tihtaty  of  Che  theological  ^tminary 

PRINCETON   .   NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

James  McWilliam 


BX  9418  .M3  1823 
Mackenzie,  John, 
Memoirs  of  the  life  and 
writings  of  John  Calvin 


i 


mwm^ 


LIFE   A^JD   WRITIJVGS 

OP 

JOHN  CALVI 

TO    WHICH    IS    PREFIXED, 

A  BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  HISTO 

^f^t  JXtiotmatmu 


v" 


BY 


JOHN  MACKENZIE 


Printed  from  the  last  London  Edition^  with  Additions 


"  Non  tamen  oranino  potiiit  mors  invida  totum 
ToUere  Calvinum  tc  ris-,  setema  manebiint 
Ingenii  monumeufa  tui :  et  livoris  iniqui 
Langaiida  paulatiin  cuin  flamma  resederit,  omnes 
Religio  qua  pura  nitet  se  fundet  in  oras 
Faraa  tui."  Bnchanu.-i  Poemat 


PHILAD' 


PUBLISHED    AND    S( 

Sola 
LUKE   LOOMIS,   x. 


i 


J.  Anderson,  Printer, 

1823.'  .  ■ 


HOGAN. 


y 


TO    THE 

PROTESTANT  DISSENTING  MINISTERS 

OF    THE 

THREE    DENOMINATIONS, 

IN    LONDON    AND    ITS    VICINITY  ; 

IN   ADMIRATION   OF 

THEIR    PROMPT    AND    EFFECTIVE    INTERPOSITION 

ON   BEHALF    OF    THE 

.  PERSECUTED    FRENCH    PROTESTANTS  J 

THIS  LIFE 

OF     ONE    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL    FOUNDERS 

OF    THE 

REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  FRANCE, 

BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


ADVERTISEMENT  to  the  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  Author  has  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity, 
furnished  hy  a  Second  Edition,  to  make  such  alterations, 
and,  he  hopes,  improvements,  as  may  confer  upon  his 
performance  the  character  of  a  Neto  Work, 

Having  suppressed  the  greater  part  of  the  "  Historical 
Appendix^'  in  the  former  edition,  he  has  been  enabled  to 
extend  the  Biography  of  Calvin,  and  to  enter  more  into 
the  detail  of  his  times. 

The  interest  which  has  lately  been  excited  on  the  sub- 
ject  of  the  Reformation,  mil,  he  trusts,  be  extended  to 

the  Memoirs  of  one  of  its  principal  Promoters,  toho,  in- 
ferior to  none  of  his  contemporaries  in  zeal,  excelled 

them  all  in  learning,  and  in  important  published  Works. 


London, 
January,  1818. 


PREFACE. 


THE  great  importance  of  Biography,  as 
a  medium  of  public  instruction,  appears  to 
be  very  generally  admitted.  Curiosity,  a 
principle  of  active  and  extended  influence, 
ever  in  quest  of  gratification,  cannot  be  too 
early  supplied  with  interesting  and  instructive 
objects,  by  an  acquaintance  with  which  intel- 
lectual attainments  and  moral  improvement 
may  be  happily  promoted.  To  render  Bio- 
raphy  conducive  to  these  ends,  it  is  obviously 
necessary,  that  genuine  and  attainable  excel- 
lence of  character  be  carefully  attended  to  in 
the  selection  of  subjects;  as  the  exhibition  of 
spurious  morality,  or  unattainable  perfection, 
must  necessarily  defeat  the  moral  effect  of  the 
most  alluring  narrative.  Excellence  of  cha- 
racter, arising  from  a  great  variety  of  causes, 
must  be  estimated  chiefly  by  its  moral  influ- 
ence ;  and  it  is  principally  under  this  vieWy 
that  the  enlightened  biographer  will  choose  to 


X  PREFACE. 

whose  excellent  work,  entitled,  "  Histoire  Lit- 
teraire  de  Geneve,"  he  has  made  considerable 
use. 

Confident  that  the  general  principles  main- 
tained in  the  following  pages  require  no  apo- 
logy, the  author  commends  them  to  HIS 
blessing,  whose  glory  they  are  intended  to 
promote,  and  who  alone  can  render  them 
really  and  extensively  useful. 

J.  M. 


©ontentfii* 


Page 
Sketch  of  the  Reformation 13 

CHAP.  I. 

MEMOIRS  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  CALVIN. 

Introductory. — Account  of  Geneva 43 

Birth  and  Education  of  Calvin  —  His  Application  to  the 
Study  of  the  Law — Reasons  for  quitting  that  Profession 
— Publication  of  his  Institutes — Journey  to  Italy  -     -     -    62 

CHAP.  II. 

Calvin's  Settlement  at  Geneva — His  Banishment — Return  to 
Geneva — Labours — Acquaintance  and  Public  Dispute 
with  Castallio — Letter  to  Luther — Is  accused  of  teaching 
False  Doctrine — Procures  the  Release  of  Ami  Perrin — 
Confutes  Bolzec  publicly 65 

CHAP.  III. 

An  Examination  of  the  Reformer's  Conduct  in  the  affair  of 
Servetus 110 

CHAP.  IV. 

Calvin's  Intrepidity  in  refusing  the  Sacrament  to  Bertelier — 
Persecution  of  Farel — Calvin's  Behaviour  to  the  Perse- 
cuted Protestants — Character  of  Gentilis — Reflections  on 
Intolerance — Calvin  the  means  of  founding  a  College     -  128 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  V, 


Calvin  presented  with  the  Freedom  of  the  City  of  Geneva — 
Revises  and  Republishes  his  Institutes  in  Latin  and  in 
French — ^Replies  to  several  Heretics — Though  greatly 
afflicted  by'  Disease,  is  unremitting  in  his  Exertions — Is 
carried  to  the  Church  and  receives  the  Sacrament  from 
the  Hands  of  Beza 142 

CHAP.  VI. 

Calvin's  Will — His  Farewell  Address  to  the  Syndics — His 
Composure  in  the  Prospect  of  Death — His  Death — Burial 
— Epigram,  and  Character 151 

CHAP.  VII. 

THE  WRITINGS   OF  CALVIN. 

Character  of  Calvin  as  an  Author  and  Commentator — Testi- 
monies to  his  Excellence  from  Papists  and  Protestants — 
Account  of  his  Christian  Institutes ;  with  Extracts  on 
some  important  points  of  Doctrine 194 


BRIEF  SKETCH 


OF   THE 


Wutovv!  Of  ti)t  Mcfotrtnatfon. 


SKETCH 


OF    THE 


REFORMATION. 


TO  those  persons  who  are  adequately  impressed 
with  the  advantages  resulting  from  the  glorious 
Reformation,  a  brief  sketch  of  its  history  will  not 
fail  to  prove  interesting.  Nor  will  the  lessons  of 
practical  wisdom,  which  such  a  subject  affords,  be 
overlooked  by  the  intelligent  Reader,  who  will  so 
distinguish  principles,  and  discriminate  character, 
as  to  derive  ample  improvement  from  the  varied 
scene  which  may  pass  in  review  before  him. 

Dark  and  dreary  as  was  the  night  of  superstition, 
during  which  luxurious  priests  revelled  in  wanton 
profligacy,  its  termination,  decreed  by  Infinite 
Goodness,  slumbered  not.  The  means  by  which 
the  reign  of  spiritual  tyranny  was  to  be  overthrown, 
did  not  indeed  form  the  subject  of  prophecy;  nor 
could  the  most  penetrating  mind  have  developed 


16  SKETCH    OF    THE 

their  certain  issue.  The  indignation  of  individuals, 
excited  by  particular  abuses,  appears,  however,  to 
have  proved  essentially  useful  in  demolishing  the 
hoary  pile  of  corruption,  as  in  the  instances  of 
WicklifTe,  and  of  Luther  in  particular.  Disgusted 
with  the  shameless  profligacy  of  the  Mendicant  or- 
ders, and  with  the  conduct  of  the  Popes  their  pa- 
trons, Wickllfie  threw  off  all  restraint,  and,  despising 
the  superstition  of  the  times,  exhorted  the  laity  to 
study  the  Scriptures,  which  he  translated  into  En- 
glish. 

Persecution  against  reputed  heretics  now  raged 
with  tremendous  fury.  John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of 
Prague,  men  of  exalted  piety  and  considerable  dis- 
tinction in  Bohemia,  had  made  themselves  many 
enemies  among  the  clergy,  by  their  disinterested 
and  spirited  remonstrances.  Huss,  in  particular, 
had  exasperated  the  See  of  Rome,  by  his  attempts 
to  detach  the  university  of  Prague  from  the  papal 
jurisdiction  of  Gregory  XII.  Summoned  to  appear 
before  the  Council  of  Constance,  and  furnished 
with  a  safe-conduct  from  the  Emperor  Sigismund, 
the  process  against  him  was  precipitated  with  all 
the  ardour  of  ecclesiastical  zeal.  On  the  6th  day 
of  July,  1415,  he  was  led  to  the  fatal  pile,  where  he 
suffered  death  with  an  heroic  constancy  worthy  of 
the  cause  which  he  had  espoused. 


REFORMATION.  17 

Prompted  by  a  generous  solicitude  to  support 
his  persecuted  friend,  Jerome  hastened  to  the 
Council.  Terrified,  however,  by  the  prospect  of  a 
cruel  death,  he  was  induced  to  make  some  conces- 
sions ;  but  soon  recovering  his  fortitude,  he  pro- 
fessed anew  the  opinions  which  he  had  for  a  mo* 
ment  abandoned,  and  illustrated  their  sublime  effi- 
cacy in  the  flames,  in  which  he  expired  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1416. 

The  principles  of  these  heroic  men,  immortal  as 
their  spirits,  survived  the  flames  which  had  de- 
stroyed their  bodies;  nor  was  the  cry  from  under 
the  altar  unheard.  Their  blood  proved  indeed 
"  the  seed  of  the  church,"  and  produced  the  fruits 
of  which  Britons  now  so  richly  partake. 

The  dawn  of  the  sixteenth  century,  serene  and 
mild,  predicted  a  day  of  tranquillity ;  nor  had  the 
Roman  pontifls,  apparently,  any  cause  to  appre- 
hend those  storms  which  were  about  to  burst  upon 
them.  The  Waldenses,  Albigenses,  and  Beg- 
hards,  together  with  the  Bohemians,  were  "  van- 
quished, though  unsubdued."  The  strong  man 
armed  kept  his  goods  in  peace^  little  suspecting  that 
a  stronger  than  he  was  about  to  dispossess  him.  The 
causes,  however,  which  contributed  to  the  over- 
throw of  Anti-christ,  were  various  and  irresistible. 
Amongst  these,  the  revival  of  learning  in  Europe, 
2* 


18  SKETCH    OF    THE 

and  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  number  of  men  of 
genius,  served  like  so  many  constellations  to  cheer 
and  illuminate  the  night  of  ignorance  and  of  su- 
perstition. The  Colloquies  of  Erasmus  in  particu- 
lar, as  they  contained  a  great  deal  of  pungent  sa- 
tire against  the  Monks,  excited  their  warmest  in- 
dignation, and  induced  them  to  say  that  "  Erasmus 
laid  the  egg,  which  Luther  hatched."  The  opera- 
tion of  learning  in  counteracting  abuses  sanctioned 
by  antiquity,  was,  however,  very  gradual;  as  it 
had  to  contend  not  only  with  the  ignorance  which 
identifies  the  utility  of  a  custom  with  its  antiquity, 
and  thus  consecrates  abuses  ;  but  also  with  a  legis- 
lative authority,  ever  upon  the  alert  against  every 
thing  exploded  under  the  name  of  innovation,  pos- 
sessed also  of  affluence  to  bribe,  and  power  to  pu- 
nish. 

Julius  II.  dying  in  the  year  1512,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded, in  1513,  by  Leo  X.  of  the  family  de  Medi- 
ci. Leo,  though  of  a  milder  disposition  than  his 
predecessor,  was  equally  indifferent  about  the  inte- 
rests of  real  religion.  A  man  of  letters,  and  a  man 
of  pleasure,  his  time  was  divided  between  con- 
versation with  men  of  letters  and  pleasure,  though 
the  latter  engrossed  by  far  the  larger  proportion. 
He  was  remarkable  for  prodigality,  luxury,  and 
imprudence;  nor  has  this  holy  father  escaped  the 


REFORMATION.  19 

charge  of  impiety  and  atheism.  He  is  not,  how- 
ever, to  be  accused  of  neglecting  the  object  so  dear 
to  all  his  predecessors, — that  of  aggrandizing  the 
Holy  See.  He  took,  therefore,  the  utmost  care  that 
nothing  should  be  transacted  in  the  Council  of  the 
Lateran,  which  Julius  left  sitting,  that  had  the  re- 
motest tendency  to  the  reformation  of  the  church. 
He  went  indeed  still  farther;  and  in  a  conference 
with  Francis  1.  King  of  France,  at  Bologna,  en- 
gaged that  monarch  to  abrogate  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  and  to  substitute  another  body  of  laws, 
under  the  title  of  the  Concordate,  which  was  received 
b}^  his  subjects  with  the  utmost  indignation  and  re- 
luctance. 

To  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  entire  in- 
fluence of  superstition  over  the  minds  which  it  once 
pervades,  and  the  ingenious  policy  of  interested 
priests  in  supporting  and  propagating  it,  the  over- 
throw of  the  papal  hierarchy,  and  the  establishment 
of  principles  of  the  most  contrary  genius,  effected 
without  the  intervention  of  external  violence,  must 
appear  to  be  the  result  of  a  presiding  Providence, 
which  frequently  illustrates  its  potent  energy,  in  ac- 
complishing events  the  most  important,  by  the 
agency  of  means  the  most  apparently  inadequate. 
So  degraded  indeed  was  Christianity  at  this  period, 
that,  though  the  reformers  pretended  to  no  miracu- 


20  SKETCH    OF    THE 

lous  assistance,  it  is  evident  that  the  same  hand 
which  first  planted  Christianity,  superintended  the 
reformed  faith  from  its  early  rise  to  its  perfect  ma- 
turity. 

Immense  as  were  the  revenues  of  the  pontificate, 
the  prodigaUty,  luxury,  and  magnificence  of  Leo, 
exhausted  the  coffers  of  the  church.  Money  being 
indispensable  to  the  voluptuous  state  and  splendid 
projects  of  the  pontiff,  recourse  was  had  to  the  ne- 
ver-failing expedient  of  a  sale  of  indulgences,  or  re- 
mittances from  the  pains  of  purgatory.*  The  right 
of  promulgating  these  indulgences  in  Germany,  as 
well  as  a  share  of  the  profits  arising  from  them,  was 

*  According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Romish  church,  all 
the  good  works  of  the  Saints,  over  and  above  those  which 
were  necessary  towards  their  own  justification,  are  depo- 
sited, together  with  the  infinite  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  in 
one  inexhaustible  treasury.  The  keys  of  this  were  com- 
mitted to  Saint  Peter,  and  to  his  successors  the  Popes, 
who  may  open  it  at  pleasure;  and,  by  transferring  a  por- 
tion of  this  superabundant  merit  to  any  particular  person, 
for  a  sum  of  money,  may  convey  to  him  either  the  pardon 
of  his  own  sins,  or  a  release  for  any  one,  in  whose  happi- 
ness he  is  interested,  from  the  pains  of  purgatory.  Julius 
II.  had  bestowed  indulgences  on  all  who  contributed  to- 
wards building  the  church  of  Saint  Peter  at  Rome;  and  as 
Leo  was  carrying  on  that  magnificent  and  expensive  fabric, 
his  grant  was  founded  on  the  same  pretence.''  See  Rq- 
hertson's  Hist,  of  Charles  V,  vol.  II.  p.  106. 


REFORMATION.  21 

granted  to  Albert,  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  who 
employed  a  Dominican,  of  the  name  of  John  Tet- 
zel,  to  proclaim  in  Germany  the  remission  of  all 
sins,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  to  those  who  were 
rich  enough  to  purchase  those  famous  privileges. 
Assisted  by  the  Monks  of  his  order,  Tetzel  executed 
his  commission  with  more  zeal  than  discretion; 
though,  by  disposing  of  the  indulgences  at  a  low 
price,  they  carried  on  a  lucrative  trade  amongst 
those  who  possessed  more  money  than  understand- 
ing. The  princes  and  nobles  felt  indignant  at  this 
method  of  draining  the  wealth  of  their  vassals  in 
order  to  replenish  the  treasury  of  an  extravagant 
pontiff.  Even  the  common  people  were  shocked  at 
the  behaviour  of  Tetzel  and  his  associates,  who 
consumed  in  drunkenness  and  debauchery  those 
sums  which  ignorance  had  appropriated  to  the  pur- 
chase of  eternal  happiness. 

An  obscure  Monk  at  Wittemberg,  disgusted  with 
the  pretensions  and  conduct  of  Tetzel,  formed  the 
resolution  of  checking  his  career.  Martin  Luther, 
a  name  for  ever  to  be  revered  by  every  protestant, 
challenged  Tetzel,  in  ninety-five  propositions,  to 
defend  himself  and  his  pontifical  employers,  whom 
he  censured  as  accomplices  in  these  impositions  on 
the  people.  Tetzel  appeared  immediately  in  the 
field,  and  attempted  to  refute  Luther's  propositions 


22  SKETCH    OF    THE 

in  two  academical  discourses,  which  he  delivered 
on  occasion  of  his  promotion  to  the  degree  of 
doctor  in  divinity. 

Leo  X.  who  at  first  beheld  this  controversy  with 
indifference,  was  at  length  roused  by  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  I.  who  informed  him  what  fatal  divi- 
sions it  was  likely  to  produce  in  Germany.  Acting 
upon  this  information,  he  summoned  Luther  to  ap- 
pear before  him  at  Rome,  and  there  to  plead  the 
cause  which  he  had  undertaken  to  support.  This 
summons,  the  effects  of  which,  had  it  been  com- 
plied with,  it  is  not  difficult  to  calculate,  was  super- 
seded by  the  cautious  policy  of  Frederick  the  Wise, 
Elector  of  Saxony,  who  asserted  that  the  cause  of 
Luther  belonged  to  a  German  tribunal,    and  ought 

to  be  decided  by  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  the  em- 
pire. The  pontiff,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes 
of  Frederick,  ordered  Luther  to  justify  his  conduct 
before  Cardinal  Cajetan,  his  legate,  at  the  diet  of 
Augsburg.  A  more  imprudent  step  could  not  have 
been  taken  by  the  court  of  Rome,  as  Cajetan,  being 
a  Dominican,  and  the  friend  of  Tetzel,  was  of  all 
others  the  most  unlikely  to  bring  the  controversy  to 
a  favourable  issue. 

Luther,  however,  obedient  to  the  pontiff's  sum- 
mons, repaired  to  Augsburgh,  where  he  had  three 
interviews  with  the  legate,  who  assumed  so  high  a 


REFORMATION.  23 

tone,  as  to  produce  in  the  mind  and  conduct  of  the 
reformer,  only  disgust  and  indignation.  Under  the 
influence  of  these  feelings,  Luther  departed  sud- 
denly from  Augsburg,  having  appealed  from  the 
present  decisions  of  the  pontiff,  to  those  which  he 
should  form  when  better  instructed. 

Mortified  by  the  total  failure  of  Cajetan's  com- 
mission, Leo  appointed  a  new  legate.  This  person 
was  Charles  Miltitz,  a  Saxon  knight  belonging  to 
his  court.  Eminent  for  prudence,  penetration,  arid 
address,  he  was  admirably  qualified  for  the  ma- 
nagement of  so  critical  a  commission.  With  the 
intention  of  securing  the  influence  of  Frederick, 
Leo  despatched  Miltitz  into  Saxony  with  the  golden 
consecrated  rose,  (the  highest  mark  of  distinction 
which  the  pontiffs  were  used  to  bestow  upon  their 
favourite  princes,)  and  instructed  him  to  compose 
the  differences  between  Luther  and  Tetzel,  and  to 
effect  a  reconciliation  between  him  and  the  court  of 
Rome.  The  legate,  in  his  first  conference  with 
Luther,  succeeded  so  far  as  to  persuade  him  to 
write  a  submissive  letter  to  Leo,  in  which  he  pro- 
mised to  observe  a  profound  silence  with  reference 
to  the  subjects  in  debate,  on  the  condition  that  the 
same  obligation  should  be  imposed  upon  his  adver- 
saries. A  second  conference  took  place  in  the  cas- 
tle of  Liebenwerd,  and  a  third  the  year  following,  at 


24  SKETCH  OF  THE 

Litchtenberg.  From  the  moderation  which  pre- 
vailed on  these  occasions,  great  hopes  were  enter- 
tained of  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  differences 
in  discussion.  But  the  imprudent  arrogance  of  the 
court  of  Rome  blasted  these  fair  blossoms,  and  re- 
newed the  controversy  with  increased  asperity. 

A  public  dispute,  which  took  place  at  this  time 
between  Eckius,  a  zealous  champion  in  the  papal 
cause,  and  Carlostadt,  a  convert  to  the  sentiments 
of  Luther,  proved  eminently  serviceable.  The  con- 
troversy itself  turned  upon  the  powers  and  freedom 
of  the  human  will;  and  was  followed  by  another 
between  Luther  and  Eckius,  concerning  the  autho- 
rity and  supremacy  of  the  Roman  pontiff.  One  of 
the  effects  (notunfrequently  the  result  of  disputation) 
was  an  increase  of  bitterness  on  the  part  of  Eckius, 
who  from  that  period  meditated  the  destruction  of 
Luther. 

Among  the  spectators  of  this  ecclesiastical  com- 
bat, was  Philip  Melancthon,  professor  of  Greek  at 
Wittemberg,  an  intimate  friend  of  Luther,  as  well 
as  a  promoter  of  his  views.  To  the  learning  and 
influence  of  Melancthon,  the  Reformation  must  be 
allowed  to  be  considerably  indebted ;  though  it  is 
equally  certain  that  the  natural  timidity  of  his  dis- 
position, and  his  excessive  veneration  for  the  great, 
prevented  his  improving  that  influence  to  its  proper 
extent. 


REFORMATION.  25 

While  the  cause  of  Anti-christ  was  thus  visibly 
on  the  decline  in  Germany,  it  received  a  mortal 
wound  in  Switzerland  from  Ulrich  Zuingle,  a  ca- 
non of  Zurich,  a  man  who  united,  with  an  extensive 
fund  of  learning,  a  spirit  truly  heroic.  Disgusted 
by  the  sale  of  indulgences,  entrusted  to  the  ministry 
of  an  Italian  Monk,  whose  name  was  Samson,  he 
commenced  a  resolute  opposition  against  him,  at- 
tended with  considerable  success.  The  effect  of  his 
exertions  was  so  great  as  to  discredit  the  Pope's 
supremacy  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Swit- 
zerland. 

The  cause  of  the  Reformation  was  still  farther 
promoted  by  an  imprudent  step  which  Leo  X.  at 
the  instigation  of  the  Dominicans,  was  induced  to 
take.  Overcome  by  thqir  importunity,  he  issued 
out  a  bull  against  Luther,  dated  the  15th  of  June, 
1520,  in  which  forty-one  pretended  heresies,  ex- 
tracted from  his  writings,  were  solemnly  condemn- 
ed; and  he  was  required  within  sixty  days  to  retract 
his  errors,  and  to  solicit  mercy  from  the  oifended 
pontiff,  on  pain  of  excommunication. 

Foreseeing  tlie  inevitable  effect  of  this  rash  mea- 
sure, Luther  prudently  withdrew  from  the  commu- 
nion of  the  church  which  he  had  long  considered  as 
essentially  corrupt  and  erroneous,  and,  by  putting 
the  church  of  Rome  out  of  his  communion,  de- 
3 


26  SKETCH    OF    THE 

prived  the  pontiff's  subsequent  excommunicatien 
of  all  force  and  meaning.  In  the  presence  of 
an  immense  multitude  of  people  of  all  ranks,  he 
committed  to  the  flames  both  the  bull  that  had  been 
issued  against  him,  and  the  decretals  and  canons  re- 
lating to  the  Pope's  absolute  jurisdiction.  In  about 
a  month  after  this  magnanimous  step  had  been 
taken  by  the  Saxon  reformer,  a  second  bull  was 
issued  out  against  him,  by  which  he  was  ex- 
pelled from  the  communion  of  the  church,  for  ha- 
ving insulted  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  pontiff.* 
The  death  of  Maximilian  I.  making  way  for  his 
grandson  Charles  V.  to  succeed  him  in  the  empire, 
Leo  X.  urged  upon  him  the  necessity  of  punishing 
Luther  in  the  most  exemplary  manner,  while  Fre- 
derick the  Wise  employed  his  influence  with  Charles 
to  shield  him  against  the  thunder  of  the  Vatican^, 
Indebted  to  the  exertions  of  Frederick  for  his  ele- 
vation to  the  empire,  Charles  had  gratitude  enough 
to  satisfy  the  elector's  demands.  He  resolved,  there- 
fore, that  Luther  should  appear  before  a  diet  to  be 
assembled  at  Worms,  in  order  to  secure  him  a  pub- 
lic hearing,  before  any  urgent  steps  were  taken 
against  him.  The  conduct  of  Luther  before  this 
assembly  was  marked  with  equal  modesty  and  firm- 

*  See  Mosheim's  Eccl.  Hist.  Cent.  xvi.  sect.  i.  p.  322. 


REFORMATION.  27 

iiess.   On  his  return  from  Worms,  he  was  surprised 
by   some   emissaries    of  the  elector,    disguised  in 
masks,  who  conveyed  him  to  the  castle  of  Warten- 
burg,  where  he  employed  his  involuntary  leisure 
in  composing  works,  which  contributed  greatly  to 
the  success  of  the  cause  in  which  he  had  embarked. 
The  death  of  Leo  occurring  at  this  period,  he 
was  succeeded  in  the  pontificate  by  Adrian  VI.  a 
native  of  Utrecht.     Adrian,  it  appears,  was  pos- 
sessed of  more  honesty  than  was  consistent  with  the 
policy  of  that  age  ;  and  was  therefore  warmly  cen- 
sured for  his  concessions  on  the  subject  of  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  church.     Dying,  however,  in  the 
course  of  a  year,  he  was  succeeded  by  Clement 
VII.  a  man  as  remarkable  for  a  reserved  character 
as  Adrian  had  been  for  his  frankness.   The  success 
of  Luther,  rapidly  progressive,  excited  the  attention 
of  almost  every  nation,  while  it  prompted  to  that 
freedom  of  investigation,  which  is  the  best  friend  of 
truth.      The    divisions  which,    however,   crept  in 
among  the  reformers  on  the  subject  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  present 
in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  by  divert- 
ing their  energy  from  their  original  object,  proved 
productive  of  the  most  unfavourable  effects. 

Finding  that  Luther  gained  continual  and  im- 
portant accessions  of  strength,  the  Papists  turned 


28  SKETCH    OF    THE 

their  attention  to  a  species  of  warfare,  upon  which 
they  placed  more  dependance  than  upon  that  of 
argument;  and  intimated  their  intention  of  making 
war  upon  the  Lutheran  party.  But  this  malicious 
purpose  was  providentially  defeated  by  the  existing 
troubles  of  Europe.  The  results  of  the  diet  assem- 
bled at  Spire,  proved  much  more  favourable  to  the 
friends  of  the  Reformation;  the  German  princes  re- 
fusing to  execute  the  sentence  that  had  been  pro- 
nounced at  Worms  against  Luther  and  his  followers. 

But  the  advantages  resulting  from  the  first  diet 
of  Spire  were  very  limited  in  their  duration,  as,  in 
a  new  diet  assembled  in  the  year  1529,  in  the  same 
place,  every  change  in  the  doctrine,  discipline,  or 
worship  of  the  church  of  Rome,  was  declared  un- 
lawful, until  a  general  council  should  be  assembled 
for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the  disputed  points. 
This  decree  being  considered  intolerable  by  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and 
the  other  members  of  the  diet  who  favoured  the 
Reformation,  they  entered  a  solemn  protest  against 
it  on  the  19th  of  April,  and  appealed  to  a  future 
council.  From  this  circumstance  arose  the  deno- 
mination of  Protestants,  which  has  ever  since 
been  given  to  those  who  renounce  the  communion 
of  the  church  of  Rome. 

An  attempt  to  bring  to  a  termination  the  disputes 


REFORMATION.  29 

which  had  produced  such  divisions  in  the  empire^, 
was  now  made  by  Charles,  who  was  returning  to 
Germany  with  the  intention  of  being  present  at  the 
approaching  diet  at  Augsburg.  As  the  emperor  re- 
mained hitherto  uninformed  with  reference  to  the 
peculiar  sentiments  of  the  reformers,  the  Elector  of 
Saxony  ordered  Luther  and  his  friends  to  commit  to 
writing  the  principal  articles  of  their  religious  sys- 
tem, and  the  grounds  of  their  dissent  from  the  church 
of  Rome.  Luther,  therefore,  delivered  to  the  Elector 
of  Torgaw  seventeen  articles,  which  were  afterwards 
called  the  Articles  of  Torgaw.  These  articles  were 
extended  by  Melancthon  in  a  manner  which  illus- 
trated the  elegance  and  perspicuity  of  his  mind  j 
and  afterwards  formed  the  Confession  of  Augsburg. 
The  alarm  which  Clement  VIL  expressed  with 
reference  to  the  spread  of  the  Lutheran  tenets,  was 
by  no  means  unfounded,  as  some  of  the  most  consi- 
derable provinces  in  Europe  had  cast  off  the  Ro- 
man yoke.  Soon  after  Luther's  rupture  with  Rome, 
one  of  his  disciples,  whose  name  was  Olaus  Petri, 
proclaimed  religious  liberty  in  Sweden.  The  ex- 
ertions of  this  missionary  were  powerfully  seconded 
by  Gustavus  Vasa  Eriscon,  a  prince  of  extraordi- 
nary public  spirit.  In  the  year  1527,  the  reformed 
religion  obtained  at  once  a  complete  triumph,  and 
a  permanent  establishment. 
3* 


30  SKETCH    OF    THE 

Denmark,  also,  received  the  light  of  the  Refor- 
mation so  early  as  the  year  1521.  For  this  ad- 
vantage it  appears  to  have  been  indebted  to  Chris- 
tian, or  Christiern  II.  who  expressed  an  earnest  de- 
sire to  have  his  subjects  instructed  in  the  principles  of 
Luther.  His  sole  object,  however,  in  favouring  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation,  was  the  gratification 
of  his  ambition  in  destroying  the  influence  of  Rome 
in  his  dominions,  and  rendering  himself  supreme  in 
church  and  state.  Upon  the  deposition  of  Christi- 
ern, the  cause  of  the  Reformation  found  a  more  en- 
lightened friend  in  the  person  of  his  uncle  Frederick, 
Duke  of  Holstein  and  Sleswick,  who  was  placed  on 
the  throne  of  Denmark.  The  glorious  work  of  ef- 
fectually destroying  superstition,  was  however  re- 
served for  Christiern  III.  a  prince  of  distinguished 
piety  and  prudence. 

In  the  kingdom  of  France,  the  Reformation 
dawned  auspiciously  under  the  patronage  of  Mar- 
garet, Queen  of  Navarre,  sister  to  Francis  I.  the 
formidable  rival  of  Charles  V.  The  situation  of 
the  friends  of  the  Reformation  was,  however,  ex- 
tremely precarious:  sometimes  reposing  in  the 
shade  of  royal  protection,  at  others  exposed  to  the 
scorching  rays  of  persecution,  they  had  nothing  to 
confide  in  but  their  principles,  which,  however, 
yielded  them  solace  and  support. 


REFORMATION.  31 

About  this  time  the  famous  Calvin,  whose  life 
will  form  the  principal  subject  of  the  following 
pages,  began  to  excite  the  attention  of  the  public, 
and  to  attract  the  favourable  notice  of  the  Queen  of 
Navarre.  His  zeal  exposed  him  to  various  perils, 
from  which  he  was  rescued  by  the  good  offices  of 
his  illustrious  friend,  the  Queen  of  Navarre.  With 
the  intention  of  digesting  and  elucidating  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  friends  of  the  Reformation,  he  pub- 
lished his  Christian  Institutions,  to  which  he  pre- 
fixed that  famous  dedication  to  Francis  I.  the  ob- 
ject of  which  was  to  soften  the  rigour  of  that  prince 
against  his  Protestant  subjects. 

Charles  V.  having  arrived  at  Augsburg  on  the 
15th  of  June,  1530,  the  diet  was  opened  with  great 
solemnity  on  the  20th  day  of  the  same  month.  On 
the  25th  of  June,  Christian  Bayer,  Chancellor  of 
Saxony,  read,  in  presence  of  the  emperor  and  the 
princes  assembled,  the  celebrated  Confession,  which 
has  since  been  distinguished  by  the  denomination 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  The  creatures  of  the 
Roman  pontiff,  who  were  present,  employed  John 
Faber,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Vienne,  to  compose  a 
refutation  of  the  Confession.  The  arguments  em- 
ployed by  Faber  were  soon  refuted  in  the  most  sa- 
tisfactory manner  by  Melancthon,  who  afterwards 
extended  his  answer,  and  in  the  year  1531,  pub- 


32  SKETCH    OF    THE 

lished  it  under  the  title  of  Jl  Defence  of  the  Confes- 
sion of  Augshurg. 

A  severe  decree  being  issued  out  against  the  Pro- 
testants on  the  19th  day  of  November,  by  the  ex- 
press order  of  the  emperor,  the  Elector  of  Saxony 
and  the  confederate  princes  formed  an  alliance  at 
Smalcald,  for  the  purpose  of  defending  themselves 
vigorously  against  the  encroachments  of  Rome. 
Into  this  confederacy  they  invited  the  kings  of  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Denmark,  with  several  other 
states  and  republics. 

Two  remarkable  events,  which  occurred  at  this 
period,  produced  respectively  the  most  important 
results,  with  reference  to  the  Reformation.  In  the 
year  1533,  a  certain  number  of  Anabaptists  settled 
at  Munster,  a  city  in  Westphalia,  where,  under  the 
pretext  of  being  invested  with  a  divine  commission, 
they  attempted  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  go- 
vernment, or  a  holy  and  spiritual  empire.  Having 
succeeded  in  overturning  all  the  political  institutions 
in  Munster,  they  proceeded  to  erect  a  new  republic, 
the  administration  of  which  they  committed  to  John 
Bockholt,  a  tailor,  and  a  native  of  Leyden.  Their 
triumph,  like  that  of  the  wicked  in  general,  was 
short:  for  in  the  year  1535,  the  city  was  besieged 
and  taken  by  the  Bishop  of  Munster ;  vv^hen  this  fa- 
natical king,  and  his  associates,  were  put  to  death  in 


REFORMATION.  33^ 

the  most  ignominious  manner.  While  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  contemplate  the  conduct  of  these  fanatics, 
without  feeling  the  glow  of  indignation,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  guard  against  a  disposition  to  transfer  our 
disgust  to  those  who  are  distinguished  by  the  same 
denomination  in  the  present  day.  Justice,  however, 
requires  us  to  confess,  that  they  are  as  far  removed 
from  every  thing  ofiensive  in  the  conduct  of  the  fa- 
natics of  Munster,  as  they  are  agreed  with  them  on 
the  article  of  baptism.  It  would  indeed  be  equally 
just  to  reproach  the  present  Americans,  on  the 
ground  of  the  character  and  circumstances  of  their 
remote  ancestors. 

The  cause  of  the  Reformation  received,  upon  the 
whole,  a  considerable  accession  of  strength  from 
the  ambiguous  support  of  Henry  VIII.  King  of 
England,  who  was  the  principal  agent  in  deliver- 
ing his  dominions  from  papal  jurisdiction.  Pro- 
fessing to  entertain  some  scruples  on  the  subject  of 
his  marriage  with  Catharine  of  Arragon,  aunt  to 
Charles  V.  and  being  really  enamoured  of  an  il- 
lustrious virgin  whose  name  was  Anna  Boleyn,  he 
earnestly  sought  a  divorce  from  the  former,  in  or- 
der to  render  legitimate  his  passion  for  the  latter. 
With  this  view  he  applied  to  Clement  VII.  alle- 
ging conscientious  scruples  as  the  ground  af  his 
wish  to  obtain  a  divorce.     Clement,  perplexed  be- 


34  SKETCH    OF    THE 

Ivveen  the  fear  of  offending  the  emperor  by  con- 
forming to  Henry's  wishes,  and  the  dread  of  incur- 
ring that  monarch's  displeasure  by  refusing  to 
comply  with  them,  had  recourse  to  procrastinating 
evasions,  as  the  only  method  of  conduct  which  he 
could  pursue  with  safety.  Tired  with  the  tardy 
measures  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  Henry  had  re- 
course to  a  measure  suggested  by  the  famous 
Thomas  Cranmer,  a  secret  friend  of  Luther  and 
his  cause,  who  was  afterwards  raised  to  the  See  of 
Canterbury.  The  advice  of  Cranmer  was,  to  de- 
mand the  opinions  of  the  most  learned  universities 
in  Europe,  on  the  subject  of  Henry's  scruples.  The 
greatest  part  of  the  universities  declared  the  mar- 
riage with  a  brother's  widow  unlawful.  Catha- 
rine was  divorced,  and  Anna  conducted  to  the 
royal  bed.  Henry,  renouncing  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  court  of  Rome,  was  declared  by  the  parliament 
and  people.  Supreme  Head,  on  earth,  of  the  Church 
of  England ;  and  the  power  and  authority  of  the 
Pope  were  completely  overturned.  It  deserves, 
however,  to  be  carefully  considered,  that  while 
Henry  withdrew  himself  from  the  tyranny  of  Rome, 
he  considered  the  title  of  Head  of  the  English 
Church  as  vesting  virtually  in  himself  the  enormous 
power  which  had  been  previously  exercised  by  the 
Roman  pontiffs.     Hence,  during  the  reign  of  this 


REFORMATION.  35 

despot,  the  face  of  religion  was  ever  changing,  in 
comformity  to  the  caprice  of  its  new  chief.  The 
influence  of  Cranmer,  the  favourite  of  Henry, 
served,  however,  to  counteract  the  vehemence  of 
this  inconstant  monarch,  and  to  dispel  the  mists  of 
ignorance. 

On  the  death  of  Henry,  which  took  place  in  the 
year  1547,  he  was  succeeded  by  Edward  VI.  a 
prince  of  elevated  genius  and  exemplary  piety. 
Deeply  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Refor- 
mation, he  addressed  a  particular  invitation  to 
Martin  Bucer,  and  to  Paul  Fagius,  that,  under  the 
auspices  of  their  learning  and  piety,  his  subjects 
might  be  confirmed  in  the  pure  truths  of  Christi- 
anity. His  reign  was,  however,  too  short  to  ac- 
complish his  generous  purposes.  In  the  year  1553, 
he  was  removed  from  his  affectionate  subjects,  and 
succeeded  by  his  sister  Mary,  a  furious  abettor  of 
the  papacy.  Among  other  victims,  the  learned 
and  pious  Cranmer  was  sacrificed  to  her  cruelty. 
A  stop  was,  however,  put  to  these  dreadful  cruel- 
ties by  her  death,  in  the  year  1558;  and  being 
succeeded  by  Elizabeth,  the  protestant  cause  re- 
vived and  flourished.  During  her  reign,  that  form 
of  religious  doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
which  still  subsists  in  England,  was  established  as 
the  national  religion. 


36  SKETCH    OP    THE 

In  Scotland  the  seeds  of  the  Reformation  were 
early  sown  by  several  noblemen  of  that  nation, 
who  had  resided  in  Germany  during  Luther's  dis- 
putes with  the  court  of  Rome.  But  the  most  dis- 
tinguished opposer  of  the  papal  jurisdiction,  was 
John  Knox,  a  disciple  of  Calvin,  whose  talents  and 
fortitude  qualified  him  eminently  for  the  labours 
and  dangers  of  a  reformer.  This  determined  cha- 
racter quitted  Geneva  for  Scotland,  in  the  year 
1559  ;  and,  by  means  of  preaching  and  private  ex- 
hortations, imbued  the  minds  of  his  countrymen 
with  so  entire  a  disgust  for  the  superstitions  of 
Rome,  as  to  induce  them  to  aim  at  nothing  less 
than  the  extirpation  of  Popery  in  all  its  forms. 
The  form  of  worship  and  discipline  which  had 
been  established  at  Geneva,  by  the  ministry  of 
Calvin,  was  universally  adopted,  and  continues  to 
the  present  day,  notwithstanding  many  efforts  to  in- 
troduce into  that  kingdom  the  episcopal  hierarchy 
of  the  church  of  England. 

In  Ireland  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  was 
greatly  promot€4  by  George  Brown,  a  native  of 
England,  and  a  Monk  of  the  Augustin  order,  who 
was  created  Archbishop  of  Dubhn,  in  the  year  1535. 
Encouraged  by  the  conduct  of  Henry  VIII.  he 
purged  the  churches  of  his  diocess  from  various  su- 
perstitions, and,  by  his  influence,  caused  the  king's 
supremacy  to  be  acknowledged  in  that  nation. 


REFORMATION.  37 

In  the  Belgic  provinces,  the  yoke  of  Rome  was 
shaken  off  with  an  impetuosity  that  was  perhaps 
rather  excessive.  To  the  heroic  conduct  of  William 
of  Nassau,  seconded  by  the  exertions  of  England 
and  France,  this  state  owed  its  deliverance  from 
the  Spanish  yoke. 

The  eyes  of  several  persons  in  Spain  were  opened 
to  the  truth,  not  merely  by  the  controversies  be- 
tween Luther  and  the  court  of  Rome;  but  by 
means  also  of  those  very  divines  who  had  been  se- 
lected by  Charles  V.  to  combat  the  sentiments  of 
the  Reformers.  These  Spanish  doctors,  instead  of 
refuting,  having  imbibed  the  opinions  of  Luther, 
propagated  them  on  their  return  home. 

The  spirit  and  conduct  of  the  reformers  having 
been  censured  by  an  elegant  historian  as  tinctured 
with  enthusiasm,  the  judicious  translator  of  Mo- 
sheim  has  been  at  the  pains  to  repel  the  accusation, 
in  an  appendix,  in  which  he  triumphantly  proves, 
that  the  reformers  possessed  precisely  that  spirit 
which  was  necessai-y  to  the  successful  prosecution 
of  their  object,  while  it  was  at  the  same  time  at  the 
farthest  possible  remove  from  enthusiasm.  Having 
instanced,  in  the  person  of  several  of  the  reformers, 
the  truth  of  his  assertion,  he  concludes  by  a  de- 
scription of  the  manner  in  which  Calvin  promoted 
the  noble  cause  which  he  had  espoused. 
4 


38  SKETCH    OF    THE 

"  As  to  Calvin,  every  one,"  observes  this  writer, 
"  who  has  any  acquaintance  with  history,  knows 
how  he  set  out  in  promoting  the  Reformation.  It 
was  by  a  work  com_posed  with  a  classic  elegance  of 
style,  and  which,  though  tinctured  with  the  scho- 
lastic theology  of  the  times,  breathes  an  uncommon 
spirit  of  good  sense  and  moderation.  This  work 
was  The  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion,  in  which 
the  learned  writer  shews,  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
reformers  was  founded  in  scripture  and  reason. 
Nay,  one  of  the  designs  of  this  book  was  to  shew, 
that  the  reformers  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with 
certain /awata,  who,  about  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mation, sprung  from  the  bosom  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  excited  tumults  and  commotions  in  se- 
veral places.  The  French  monarch,  Francis  I.  to 
cover  with  a  specious  pretext  his  barbarous  perse- 
cution of  the  friends  of  the  Reformation,  and  to 
prevent  the  resentment  of  the  Protestants  in  Ger- 
many, with  whom  it  was  his  interest  to  be  on  good 
terms,  alleged,  that  his  severity  fell  only  upon  a 
sect  of  enthusiasts,  who,  under  the  title  o^  Anabap- 
tists, substituted  their  visions  in  the  place  of  the 
doctrines  and  declarations  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
To  vindicate  the  reformers  from  this  reproach, 
Calvin  wrote  the  book  now  under  consideration ; 
and    tliougli    the   theology    that   reigns    in  it   be 


REFORMATION.  39 

chargeable  with  some  defects,  yet  it  is  as  remote 
from  the  spirit  and  complexion  of  fanaticism,  as 
any  thing  can  be.  Nor  indeed  is  this  spirit  visible 
in  any  of  the  writings  of  Calvin  that  I  have  pe- 
rused. His  Commentary  upon  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  is  a  production  that  will  always  be  es- 
teemed, on  account  of  its  elegant  simplicity,  and 
the  evident  marks  it  bears  of  an  unprejudiced  and 
impartial  inquiry  into  the  plain  sense  of  the  Sacred 
Writings,  and  of  sagacity  and  penetration  in  the 
investigation  of  it." 


jWeinoitfii 


OP    THE 

L.IFE  AJSJO   WRITIJVGS 

OP 

JOHN  CALVIN. 


4* 


Mttnoivu 


LIFE  OF   CALVIN. 


Introductory. — Account  of  Geneva. 

^'  SO  strong  and  prevalent  Is  the  desire  of  liber- 
ty, and  so  deeply  is  the  love  of  it  implanted  in  every 
bosom,  that  we  with  pleasure  call  off  our  attention 
from  monarchies  and  empires  raised  by  tyranny,  to 
fix  it  on  little  states  where  freedom  reigns.  Many 
a  simple  flower,  when  its  qualities  are  understood, 
is  as  worthy  our  notice  as  the  proud  cedar,  at  whose 
foot  it  blossoms.  It  is  not  the  size  of  objects  alone 
which  claims  our  admiration,  but  rather  some  pe- 
culiar beauty  and  contrivance  that  we  discover  in 
them. 

"  Hence  it  is  that  there  is  no  government  in  the 
world  which  can  challenge  greater  respect  than  that 
of  Geneva.  It  is  a  place  which,  for  many  years, 
hath  been  much  resorted  to  by  such  of  our  young 
countrymen  whose  fortunes  indulge  them  in  that 
part  of  education  which  we  call  travelling;  of 
whom  not  a  few  make  a  considerable  stay  here, 
.and  find   opportunities  of  being  well   assisted  m 


44  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

whatever  studies  they  are  desirous  to  pursue.  As' 
it  lies  in  one  of  the  principal  passages  into  Italy,  it 
hath  been  mentioned  by  several  Voyage  writers ; 
but  as  none  have  entered  into  a  detail  of  its  govern- 
ment and  laws,  I  flatter  myself  that  such  a  work 
may  not  be  unacceptable,  and  that  the  reader  will 
not  be  displeased  to  know  somewhat  of  a  republic, 
founded  in  wisdom  and  virtue.  He  will  not  find 
here  the  ambition  of  one,  making  thousands  wretch- 
ed, and  augmenting  the  miseries  of  life.  He  will 
not  here  meet  legions  of  armed  men  rushing  abroad 
into  the  world,  and  with  the  thunders  of  war,  dis- 
turbing the  peace  of  mankind ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
he  will  be  conveyed  to  the  gentler  scenes  of  aca- 
demic silence,  where  philosophy  is  more  studied 
than  the  sword.  He  will  see  a  people  happy  and 
free,  yet  who  have  defended  themselves  with  bra- 
very on  every  occasion,  against  the  various  en- 
croachments of  tyranny  and  oppression, — a  people 
who  make  temperance  the  guardian  of  their  healths, 
and  who  bar  up  every  avenue  to  the  blandishments 
of  luxury.  He  will  remark  the  care  that  is  taken 
by  the  state,  to  promote  religion  and  virtue ;  to  in- 
fuse into  all  its  subjects  such  a  tincture  of  learning 
as  is  suitable  to  their  different  stations;  and  to 
form  the  character  of  a  good  citizen  upon  that  of  a 
good  Christian.  He  will  observe  by  what  laws  the 
dignity  of  the  magistrate  and  the  liberties  of  each 
individual  are  maintained ;  and,  in  fine,  by  what  re- 
gulations (which  is  an  object  not  unworthy  our 
curiosity)  five  and  twenty  thousand  people  preserve 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  45 

the  utmost  harmony  within  their  walls,  and  live  to- 
gether like  one  great  family. 

"  While  the  wisdom  of  man  hath  rendered  this 
city  a  mild  and  amiable  dwelling,  the  hand  of  Na- 
t  lire  hath  also  co-operated,  and  marked  the  scene 
she  hath  spread  around  it,  as  one  of  her  happiest 
labours.  It  is  situated  on  a  most  beautiful  spot, 
at  the  head  of  the  Leman  Lake,  acknowledged  the 
largest  and  finest  in  Europe.  This  noble  piece  of 
water  is  about  sixty  English  miles  in  length,  and  in 
its  broadest  part  about  twelve,  though  much  nar- 
rower towards  the  two  extremities  of  it.  It  is  of  a 
remarkable  blue  transparent  colour;  is  well  stocked 
with  fish,  and  particularly  famous  for  its  trout, 
which  are  often  found  of  a  prodigious  size.  The 
Rhone  rolls  into  it  at  the  opposite  end,  from  the 
country  called  Le  Vallais,  and  having  blended  its 
waters  with  those  of  the  Lake,  separates  itself  in 
two  rapid  streams,  which  run  through  part  of  Ge- 
neva, forming  a  little  island  in  the  town,  and  im- 
mediately re-uniting,  continue  their  course  into 
France.  It  is  bordered,  on  the  side  of  Switzerland, 
by  the  Pais  du  Vaud,  a  tract  of  country  formerly 
conquered  from  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  by  the  canton 
of  Bern ;  and  which  may  truly  be  esteemed  one  of 
the  gayest  and  most  delicious  spots  that  can  be  be- 
held ;  being  covered  with  towns,  country  houses, 
woods,  vineyards,  and  gardens,  and  the  view  ter- 
minated by  that  range  of  hills  known  under  the 
general  name  of  Mount  Jura.     The  Savoy  side, 


46  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

though  less  fertile,  is  more  woody,  and  makes  a 
pleasing  contrast ;  for  the  high  precipices,  and  vast 
mountains,  that  bound  the  sight  all  round,  and  rise 
behind  one  another  in  so  many  wild  and  fantastic 
forms  5  some  totally  bleak  and  barren,  others  ver- 
dant, others  covered  with  perpetual  snows,  and 
seen  from  many  leagues  distance,  fill  the  mind  with 
an  agreeable  astonishment,  and  produce  some  of 
the  most  noble  and  stupendous  scenes  that  can  be 
imagined;  scenes  capable  of  furnishing  a  thousand 
new  ideas  to  the  fancy  of  the  Poet  and  the  Painter. 

"  Geneva  is  a  city  of  great  antiquity,  being  men- 
tioned frequently  by  Csesar,  in  his  Commentaries, 
by  the  same  name  it  now  bears. 

"  In  1534,  and  1535,  it  formed  itself  into  a  Re- 
public, and  by  degrees  obtained  that  form  of  go- 
vernment which  exists  to  this  day. 

"  The  sovereign  power  is  lodged  in  Three  Coun- 
cils; namely, 

"  Hie  General  Council; 

"  The  Council  of  Two  Hundred;  and 

"  The  Council  of  Twenty-five, 

"  The  General  Council  is  composed  of  such  ci- 
tizens and  burgesses  as  have  attained  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years.  Their  numbers  usually  amount 
to  1500,  not  including  those  who  are  in  foreign 
countries.  The  law  orders  the  Councils  of  Twenty- 
five,  and  Two  Hundred,  to  summon  the  General 
Council  twice  a   year  for  the  election  of  magis- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  47 

trales  ;  and  if  aftairs  of  consequence  demand  a  more 
frequent  meeting,  they  have  a  right  to  call  them 
as  often  as  shall  be  necessary. 

"  The  attributes  of  this  Council  are, 

1.  The  power  of  making  laws. 

2.  The  power  of  electing  the  principal  magistrates, 

3.  The  power  of  making  alliances,  of  approving, 
or  rejecting  what  is  proposed  in  relation  to  ex- 
changes or  alienations  of  lands  belonging  to  the 
state,  and  of  borrowing  money. 

4.  The  power  of  war  and  peace. 

5.  The  power  of  raising  subsidies. 

6.  The  power  of  consenting  to,  or  disapproving 
what  is  proposed  with  regard  to  fortifications. 

"  The  Council  of  Two  Hundred  is  composed  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  citizens  and  burgesses,  who 
fill  up  this  body  as  often  as  there  are  fifty  vacan- 
cies. The  members  must  be  thirty  years  of  age 
complete  ;  they  have  their  seats  for  life,  except  they 
become  bankrupts,  or  are  degraded  by  the  censure 
which  is  annually  made. 

"  The  attributes  of  this  Council  are, 

1.  To  be  the  supreme  court  of  justice. 

2.  To  have  the  pov/er  of  pardoning. 

3.  To  dispose  of  all  important  charges,  and  to 
elect  the  Council  of  Twenty-five. 

4.  To  deliberate  on  what  is  to  be  proposed  in  the 
General  Assembly. 

5.  To  be  consulted  on  all  affairs  of  importance. 


48  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

"  The  Council  of  Twenty-five,  or  Little  Coun- 
cil, must  be  chosen  out  of  such  of  the  citizens  as 
are  members  of  the  Council  of  Two  Hundred : 
they  continue  for  life,  unless  in  the  before-men- 
tioned cases  of  insolvency  or  degradation. 

*'  The  attributes  of  this  Council  are, 

1.  The  executive  power  of  all  that  regards  the  law 
of  nations. 

2.  The  cognizance  of  all  inferior  affairs,  which  are 
not  of  consequence  sufficient  to  demand  a  convo- 
cation of  the  Council  of  Two  Hundred. 

3.  The  judging  of  all  criminal  causes  without  the 
power  of  pardoning,  which  is  lodged  in  the 
Council  of  Two  Hundred. 

4.  The  judging  of  civil  causes,  though  the  parties 
have  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Council  of  Two 
Hundred,  whenever  it  is  a  matter  of  above 
twenty  or  twenty-five  pounds  value,  or  in  other 
respects  of  importance. 

5.  The  naming  to  all  little  employments. 

6.  The  right  of  having  the  principal  magistrates 
chosen  out  of  its  own  body. 

7.  The  power  of  summoning  the  Council  of  Two 
Hundred,  as  often  as  it  thinks  proper. 

8.  The  administration  of  the  finances. 

9.  The  creation  of  burgesses. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  49 

Of  the  €hurch  of  Geneva. 

"•  It  is  well  known  that  Calvin  was  its  founder, 
who  had  a  great  share  in  forming  its  political,  as 
well  as  spiritual  legislation  :  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  people  rejected  episcopacy,  as  they  shook 
off  the  fetters  of  popery  in  opposition  to  their 
bishop. 

"  The  government  of  the  church  is  democratical, 
under  the  superintendance  of  a  chief,  styled  the 
Moderator,  who  is  clianged  €very  week  without 
election  ;  he  who  follows  him  in  order  among  the 
pastors,  succeeding  ipso  jure. 

"  The  pastors  have  a  fixed  salary  paid  out  of 
the  public  stock  ;  those  in  the  city  not  receiving 
more  than  sixty  pounds  sterling  per  annum,  and 
those  in  tlie  country  about  half  that  sum.  They 
have  their  particular  parishes  assigned  them. 

"  Their  service  is  decent,  but  devoid  of  form; 
their  prayers  are  few,  and  their  liturgy  short. 
They  never  kneel  nor  bow  in  church  ;  and,  except 
during  prayers,  wear  their  hats,  the  minister  him- 
self preaching  covered. 

"  To  us  in  England,  who  are  so  much  accustomed 
to  hear  of  sinecures  and  pluralities,  and  to  see  cler- 
gymen in  possession  of  large  incomes,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  little  conscientious  of  their  great  trust, 
as  to  abandon  the  instruction  of  their  parishes  to 
the  mercy  of  some  indigent  curate  ;  it  must,  with- 
out doubt,  seem  extremely  surprising,  that  the  mi- 
nisters of  Geneva  should,  with  so  small  salaries, 
5 


60  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

religiously  discharge  their  duty.  It  will  thence  be 
easily  conceived,  that  in  becoming  ecclesiastics, 
they  are  not  greatly  influenced  by  pecuniary  ad- 
vantages. They  are  generally  indeed  men,  whose 
circumstances  and  leisure  have  afforded  them  a 
learned  education,  and  whose  honour  and  virtue 
prompt  them  to  become  serviceable  to  their  coun- 
try. Hence  it  is,  that  the  word  of  God  is  preached 
with  the  utmost  decency  and  propriety,  and  the 
clergy  are  held  in  such  high  esteem,  as  to  have, 
on  all  public  occasions,  the  same  rank  as  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Little  Council. 

Of  the  Consistory. 

"  The  Consistory  is  an  ecclesiastical  court,  com- 
posed of  all  the  pastors  of  the  republic,  and  twelve 
laymen ;  two  of  whom  are  members  of  the  Little 
Council ;  a  third  is  one  of  the  auditeurs ;  and  the 
nine  others  are  taken  from  the  Council  of  Two 
Hundred.  The  pastors  are  perpetual  members  of 
this  court,  but  the  laymen  are  only  chosen  for  six 
years. 

"  They  assemble  every  Thursday,  and  oftener 
when  occasion  requires  it. 

"  They  have  cognizance  of  all  public  scandals, 
and  proceed  on  the  report  which  the  pastor  makes, 
in  whose  division  such  offence  is  committed.  They 
inflict  ecclesiastical  penalties,  such  as  censures,  and 
excommunications  for  a  certain  time ;  and,  for  ci- 
vil punishment,  are  obliged  to  send  the  delinquents 
to  the  Council  of  Tvventj-five.    This  court  also 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  51 

gives  its  opinion  in  matrimonial  cases,  which  are 
first  presented  here,  and  afterwards  carried  before 
the  Little  Council. 

^'  It  hath  not  the  least  coercive  power ;  for  the 
officers,  who  are  members  of  it,  sit  there  not  as  ma- 
gistrates, but  as  a  part  of  a  religious  society. — If 
obedience  is  refused,  either  to  its  citation  or  sen- 
tence, it  addresses  itself  for  relief  to  the  Little 
Council. 

"  This  tribunal  enjoys  the  privilege,  common  to 
all  the  citizens,  of  presenting  remonstrances  to  the 
Council  of  Twenty-five,  which  is  done  by  sending 
deputies,  who  demand  audience  of  the  Council. 
The  body  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  the  body  politic, 
censures  its  members. 

"  One  cannot,  I  think,  without  some  degree  of 
pleasure  and  satisfaction,  behold  a  commonwealth, 
the  seat  of  freedom  and  letters,  strenuous  in  the 
c  ause  of  independency,  and  watching,  with  a  paren- 
tal care,  over  the  happiness  of  its  subjects.  Nor 
can  we  admire  it  without  at  the  same  time  earnestly 
wishing,  that  while  Heaven  continues  to  give  the 
Genevois  a  sufficient  portion  of  virtue  to  maintain 
their  liberties,  it  may  turn  the  ambition  of  neigh^ 
bouring  princes  (for  too  apt  is  power  to  leap  over 
the  bounds  of  justice)  from  wantonly  disturbing 
their  tranquillity,  or  offering  their  rights  any  bar- 
barous insult."* 

*  See  a  short  account  of  the  Ancient  History,  Present 
Government,  and  Laws  of  the  Republic  of  Geneva,  by 
George  KeatCj  Esq.  176I. 


S2  MEMOIRS    OF   TUE 


CHAP.  I. 

Birth  and  Education  of  Calvin  —  His  Application 
to  the  Study  of  the  Law  —  Reasons  for  quitting 
that  Profession  —  Publication  of  his  Institutes  — 
Journey  to  Italy. 

JOHN  CALVIN*  the  celebrated  Reformer, 
was  born  at  Noyon,  a  town  in  Picardy,  on  the  10th 
of  July,  1509.  Undistinguished  by  the  splendour 
of  family  consideration,  it  was  reserved  for  him  to 
give  dignity  and  perpetuity  to  a  name,  which  had 
hitherto  occupied  an  humble  but  respectable  rank 


*  The  circumstance  of  a  trifling  alteration  in  the  name 
of  our  reformer,  which  it  appears  was  Cauvin,  having  been 
maliciously  perverted  by  some  of  his  enemies,  we  shall 
present  our  readers  with  a  justification  of  it  in  the  words 
of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Drelincourt.  ^^  In  reality,"  saith 
he,  "  the  change  of  a  letter  in  Calvin's  name  is  very  in- 
considerable, or  rather,  signifies  nothing  at  all ;  for  being 
to  turn  Cauvin  into  Latin,  if  one  would  give  it  an  air  and 
termination  suitable  to  the  genius  of  the  language,  how  can 
one  turn  it  otherwise  than  by  Cahinus  ?  for  as  all  good 
authors  call  that  in  Latin,  Calvus,  which  the  Picards  call 
Cauve,  and  the  Frenchmen  Chauve,  so,  instead  of  Cauvin 
m  Picard,  and  Chauvin  in  French,  the  Latin  must  have  it 
Calvinus.  Now  this  godly  man's  first  work  being  written 
in  Latin,  and  he  thereby  known  by  the  name  of  Calvinus^ 
if  after  that,  when  he  wrote  in  French,  he  had  used  any 
other  name  than  that  of  Calvin,  the  work  might  have  been 
taken  for  another  man's,  to  the  no  small  damage  of  the 
reader  and  printer." — Defense  de  Calvin,  par  Drelin- 
court, p.  202. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  53 

in  society.  His  father,  whose  name  was  Gerard,  a 
sensible  and  prudent  man,  had  gained  the  esteem 
and  friendship  of  all  the  neighbouring  gentlemen, 
and  particularly  of  the  family  of  Montmor,  a  family 
of  the  first  distinction  in  Picardy.  John  Calvin 
was  brought  up  with  the  children  of  this  family,  and 
accompanied  them  to  Paris,  where  he  pursued  his 
studies  with  them  under  Marturin  Cordier,  regent 
of  the  College  de  la  Marche;  a  man  illustrious  for 
his  erudition  and  integrity,  who  spent  his  life  in  tu- 
ition at  Nevers,  at  Bourdeaux,  at  Neuf  Chatel,  at 
Lausanne,  and  at  Geneva,  where  he  died  in  the 
eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  same  year 
as  Calvin. 

On  quitting  the  College  de  la  Marche,  Calvin  re- 
moved to  that  of  Montaign,  the  tutor  of  which  was 
a  learned  Spaniard.  Here  he  advanced  so  rapidly 
in  his  studies,  that  he  soon  entered  upon  philoso- 
phy. But  as  he  had  from  his  youth  discovered 
considerable  piety,  and  an  extreme  horror  at  vice, 
frequently  censuring  the  excesses  of  his  compa- 
nions, Gerard  thought  that  he  should  be  following 
the  inclinations  of  his  son,  in  consecrating  him  to 
theology.  He  therefore  procured  for  him,  in  the 
year  1529,  a  benefice  in  the  cathedral  church  at 
Noyon,  and  the  rectory  of  Point  L'Eveque,  where 
he  was  born.  Here  Calvin,  though  unordainedj 
preached  frequently. 

How  mysterious  are  the  w  ays  of  Providence  ! 
How  little  propable  did  it  appear,  from    Calvin's 
present  situation  and  prospects  (a  member  and  a 
o 


54  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

minister  of  the  church  of  Rome),  that  he  should 
be  an  instrument  appointed  to  overthrow  that  pile 
of  corruptions!  Two  reasons,  however,  concurred 
in  influencing  our  reformer's  future  character  and 
conduct;  they  were  dissimilar  indeed  ni  their  nature, 
but  tended  equally  to  one  point — that  of  inducing 
him  to  quit  his  ministry  in  the  church  of  Rome.  His 
father  resolved  to  make  him  study  the  law,  con- 
vinced that  it  was  the  most  certain  method  of  ac- 
quiring riches  and  honour.  Calvin  having  been 
instructed  in  the  true  religion  by  one  of  his  rela- 
tions, named  Pierre  Robert  Olivetan  ;*  and  having 
carefully  perused  the  Scriptures,  began  to  be  dis- 
gusted with  the  doctrines  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  resolved  to  renounce  her  communion.  Thus, 
either  to  comply  with  his  father's  wishes,  or  his  own 
inclinations,  he  quitted  the  study  of  theology,  for 
that  of  the  law,  and  removed  to  Orleans,  where  he 
made  such  progress  in  that  science,  under  Pierre 
de  l'Etoile,f  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  French 
civilians,  that  he  was  considered  rather  a  master 
than  a  scholar.  In  the  absence  of  the  professors, 
he  frequently  supplied  their  place,  and  acquired  so 
much  esteem  in  the  university,  that  they  offered  to 
present  him  with  a  doctor's  degree. 

This  period  of  the  life  of  Calvin  illustrates,  stri- 


*  Author  of  a  French  translation  of  the  Bible,  printed  at 
Neuf  Chatel. 

t  Pierre  -de  I'Etoile  was  afterwards  president  of  the 
parliament  of  Paris,  and  was  called  in  Latin,  Petriis  Stella. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  5^ 

kindly,  the  importance  of  early  habits  of  applica- 
tion, as  laying  the  foundation  for  future  eminence 
and  usefulness.  Without  entering  upon  the  unpro- 
fitable question,  whether  genius  be  intuitive  or  ac- 
quired, it  will  certainly  be  more  useful  lo  remem- 
ber, that  all  the  illustrious  instances  of  superior 
powers,  have  been  as  remarkable  for  early  indus- 
try and  extensive  acquirements,  as  they  were  emi- 
nent for  distinguished  rank  in  the  literary  world. 
Milton,  Locke,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Boyle,  Bacon, 
Addison,  and  Johnson,  are  characters  highly  illus- 
trative of  this  remark.  What  they  would  have 
been,  independently  of  their  severe  application,  and 
rich  acquirements,  we  are  not  capable  of  con- 
ceiving ;  but  that  they  would  have  occupied  a  much 
lower  station  in  the  republic  of  letters,  is  absolutely 
certain.  The  importance  of  literature  to  the  cause 
of  Christianity  is,  perhaps,  greater  than  some  of 
its  sincerest  friends  are  willing  to  admit.*  It  is 
true,  indeed,  that  in  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
gospel,  it  triumphed  gloriously  over  the  learning 
and  the  prejudices  of  its  opposers;  but  it  will  be 
allowed,  that  it  was  then  accompanied  with  influ- 


*  "  All  persons,  in  every  age  and  nation,  competent  to 
read  the  best  classics  with  facility  and  iDtelhgence,  have 
unanimously  considered  an  acquaintance  with  them  as 
highly  conducive,  if  not  absolutely  necessary,  to  the  for- 
mation of  a  just  taste  and  habit  in  composition,  to  the  com- 
plete knowledge  of  the  human  character,  to  the  most  ad- 
vantageous study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures^,  and  to  the  due 
appreciation  of  the  glorious  gospel.     The  apostate  empe- 


56  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

ences  which  have  since  been  withdrawn ;  and  that 
in  many  subsequent  periods,  it  has  been  ilkistrated 
and  enforced  by  the  genius  and  eloquence  of  many 
of  its  abettors.  Nor  is  learning  less  indebted  to 
pure  Christianity ;  this  might  easily  be  shewn  by 
a  comparative  view  of  its  state  before  and  after  the 
Reformation,  upon  which  the  learning  and  piety  of 
Calvin  had  evidently  so  happy  and  decided  an  in- 
fluence. 

In  the  midst  of  his  various  employments,  our  re- 
former was  a  diligent  student  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  obtained  so  clear  an  insight  into  their 
meaning,  that  many  persons,  whom  God  had  in- 
spired with  a  desire  to  be  instructed  in  the  true  re- 
ligion, applied  to  him  for  information,  and  were 
equally  impressed  with  his  zeal  and  his  knowledge. 
He  was  at  this  time  so  diligent  a  student,  that  after 
having  supped  lightly,  he  continued  reading  until 
midnight,  and  in  the  morning  was  employed  while 
in  bed,  in  reviewing  what  he  had  read  the  night  be- 
fore. There  is  no  doubt  but  that  these  late  studies 
contributed  to  his  extensive  erudition,  and  his  re- 
markable memory;  but  they  also  materially  injured 


ror,  that  bitter  and  subtle  enemy  of  our  faith,  calculated 
judiciously  on  the  tendency  of  his  machinations,  when  he 
forbade  the  Christians  to  teach  in  their  schools,  the  hea- 
then poels,  moralists,  and  historians.  It  would  be  well  if 
all  modern  friends  of  the  gospel  were  as  perspicacious  as 
Julian  was,  in  discerning  the  connection  of  ancient  learn- 
ing and  rhe  great  cause  of  revealed  truth.'' — Vide  Eclec- 
tic Review  for  March  1807. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  57 

his  health,  and  brought  on  that  weakness  of  sto- 
mach with  which  he  was  afflicted  all  his  life,  and 
which  at  length  shortened  his  days. 

Andre  Alciat,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  civi- 
lians of  his  age,  having  rendered  famous  I'Acade- 
mie  de  Bourges,  Calvin  wished  to  attend  his  lec- 
tures. During  his  residence  there,  he  formed  an 
intimate  friendship  with  Melchior  Wolmar,  profes- 
sor of  Greek  ;  a  man  of  considerable  merit,  and  an 
excellent  tutor;  who  taught  Calvin  Greek,  an  ob- 
ligation which  he  acknowledged,  by  dedicating  to 
him  his  Commentary  on  the  Second  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians. 

With  his  laborious  studies  he  associated  an  inces- 
sant perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  and  sometimes 
preached  in  a  small  town  in  Berri,  named  Ligneres, 
with  the  consent,  and  frequently  before,  the  seig- 
neur of  that  department. 

His  father  dying  while  he  was  at  Bourges,  he 
was  obliged  to  abandon  the  study  of  the  law,  and 
to  return  to  Noyon.  At  Paris,  which  he  visited 
shortly  afterwards,  he  published  his  Commentary 
on  Seneca's  Book  on  Clemency,  an  author,  the  pu- 
rity of  whose  sentiments  were  in  perfect  unison 
with  the  morals  of  Calvin;  and  whom  he  always 
read  with  pleasure.  He  was  then  only  twenty-four 
years  of  age;  but,  notwithstanding  his  youth,  he 
became  soon  known  and  esteemed  by  those  who 
were  devoted  to  true  religion.  Amongst  the  per- 
sons with  whom  he  formed  an  acquaintance  at  diis 
period,  was  a  merchant,  who  was  afterwards  burned 


58  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

for  his  attachment  to  the  gospel,  named  Estienne 
de  la  Forge,  of  whom  he  frequently  spoke  with 
commendation.  Of  this  person  he  makes  mention 
in  his  fourth  chapter  of  the  book  which  he  wrote 
against  the  libertines. 

During  his  residence  at  Paris,  renouncing  the 
pursuit  of  all  other  sciences,  he  consecrated  himself 
to  theology  and  to  God  ;  to  the  inexpressible  satis- 
faction of  the  reformed,  who  secretly  held  their  as- 
semblies there. 

Nicholas  Cop,  ,rector  of  1' Academic  de  Paris,* 
having  on  a  public  occasion  spoken  freely  against 
public  errors  in  religion,  and  given  offence  to  the 
parliament,  was  summoned  to  appear  at  court.  On 
his  journey  he  was  informed  that  he  would  be  im- 
prisoned. He  consequently  returned  immediately, 
and  quitting  the  kingdom,  retired  to  Basil. 

Calvin,  being  an  intimate  friend  of  Cop,  was 
obliged  also  to  take  flight.  After  his  departure, 
Marin,  the  bailiif,  one  of  the  most  cruel  persecutors, 
went  to  his  room  in  the  College  de  Fortret,  intend- 
ing to  take  him  prisoner;  but  not  finding  him, 
seized  his  papers  and  books,  amongst  which  were 
found  several  letters  from  his  friends,  which  ex- 
posed them  to  extreme  danger;  so  great  was  their 
aversion  to  the  Romish  church.  But  the  Queen  of 
Navarre,  a  princess  of  uncommon  merit,  having 
sent  for  Calvin,  treated  him  with  great  respect,  Hst- 


*  Son  of  William  Cop,  physician  to    the  king,  born  at 
Basil. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  59 

ened  to  him  with  pleasure,  and  made  use  of  her  in- 
fluence with  the  king,  Francis  I,  her  brother,  to  ap- 
pease the  tempest  which  had  arisen  against  the  re- 
formed. 

What  an  apparent  ignorance  of  the  genius  of 
Christianity,  and  of  human  nature,  have  persecutors 
invariably  discovered !  Taking  our  estimate  of 
Christianity  from  their  exhibition  of  it,  we  should 
be  ready  to  suppose,  that  its  predominant  quality 
was  hatred,  and  its  ultimate  object,  extermination. 
How  ignorant  of  human  nature  must  they  be,  who 
are  not  instructed  in  this  most  obvious  truth,  that 
opposition  only  strengthens  opinions,  and  confirms 
prejudices ;  that  it  is  equally  incapable  of  subduing 
truth,  and  of  suppressing  error! 

Having  quitted  Paris,  Calvin  retired  to  Xain- 
tonge,  where,  at  the  request  of  a  friend,  he  com- 
posed some  formularies  of  sermons  and  Christian 
exhortations,  which  he  induced  the  rectors  to  use  as 
homilies,  in  order  to  excite  the  people  to  pursue 
their  inquiries  into  the  truth.  About  this  time  he 
took  a  journey  to  Nerac,  to  visit  Jacques  Le  Fevre 
d'Estaples,  who  had  been  tutor  to  the  children  of 
Francis  I.  and  who,  to  avoid  the  persecutions  of  the 
Sorbonne,  had  retired  to  that  town  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Queen  of  Navarre.  The  good  old 
man  rejoiced  to  see  him,  and  predicted  that  Calvin 
would  one  day  be  a  powerful  instrument  of  esta- 
blishing the  true  religion  in  France. 

He  did  not,  however,  remain  long  at  Nerac,  but 
went  from  thence  to  Paris.    Yet,  as  he  had  many 


60  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

enemies  there,  who  had  meditated  his  destruction, 
he  was  obhged  to  remain  concealed.  The  provi- 
dence of  God  appears,  however,  to  have  conducted 
him  to  Paris  at  this  time.  For  Michael  Servetus 
began  about  this  period  to  broach  his  blasphemies 
against  the  Holy  Trinity;  and  as  he  appeared  to 
desire  an  interview  with  Calvin,  the  latter  attended 
at  the  time  and  place  appointed,  though  at  the  risk 
of  life.  But  he  waited  for  him  in  vain;  Servetus  had 
not  sufficient  courage  to  meet  him. 

The  following  year  was  disgraced  by  many  cru- 
elties inflicted  upon  several  pious  characters.  Ge- 
rard Rufi,  Docteur  de  Sorbonne,  and  Coraud,  a 
Monk  of  the  order  of  St.  Austin,  who,  under  the  pa- 
tronage of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  had  many  years 
laboured  with  considerable  success  to  establish  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  in  Paris,  were  torn  from 
their  pulpits,  and  dragged  to  prison.  The  kijjg, 
Francis  I.  being  influenced  by  the  Catholics,  was 
so  highly  incensed  by  some  writings  which  had  been 
published  against  the  Mass,  and  which  had  even  been 
posted  up  on  the  door  of  the  Louvre,  that  after  a 
procession  and  public  prayers,  at  which  he  assisted 
with  his  three  sons,  bareheaded,  carrying  a  torch  in 
his  hand,  in  expiation  of  this  crime;  he  commanded, 
that  in  the  middle  of  the  four  most  frequented  parts 
of  the  city,  eiglit  of  the  reformed  should  be  burned 
alive;  and  swore  that  he  would  not  spare  his  own 
children,  should  tliey  be  infected  with  that  execrable 
heresy. 

What  a  disgusting  picture  of  bigotry  and  fanati- 


LIFE    OP    CALVIN.  61 

cism  are  we  here  presented  with !  and  how  strikingly 
does  it  prove  the  folly  of  so  identifying  a  national 
religion  with  Christianity,  as  to  constitute  a  sepa- 
ration from  its  pale,  the  proof  of  heresy !  In  this 
view,  how  much  more  detestable  is  the  Papal  than 
the  Pagan  persecution !  With  respect  to  the  Pagan 
religion^  the  first  Christians  were  innovators,  as  it 
regarded  the  very  substance  and  essence  of  their 
mythology  and  worship.  They  not  only  declared 
their  worship  to  be  superstitious,  but  denounce^ 
their  belief  as  absurd,  and  their  morality  as  corrupt. 
The  Protestants,  on  the  other  hand,  innovated 
chiefly  in  the  circumstantials  of  religion.  For 
though  no  intelligent  Protestant  will  allow  the 
church  of  Rome  to  be  a  true  church  of  Christ, 
every  candid  Protestant  will  admit,  that  in  her  fun- 
damental articles  she  recognizes  the  distinguishing 
doctrines  of  Christianity.  The  plain  language  of 
the  Papal  persecution,  therefore,  holds  out  the  ab- 
surd idea,  that  it  is  more  important  to  be  agreed  in 
the  circumstantials  than  in  the  fundamentals  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  that  uniformity  of  opinion  is  of  more 
consequence  when  it  respects  the  drapery  of  her 
disciples,  than  their  character. 

Considering  the  deplorable  state  to  which  bis 
brethren  were  reduced,  Calvin,  after  having  print- 
ed, at  Orleans,  an  excellent  work  entitled  Lta  Psy- 
chopannychie,  which  he  composed  against  those  who 
believed  that  the  souls  of  the  just,  separated  from 
their  bodies,  sleep  until  the  resurrection,  resolved 
to  quit  the  kingdom. 

6 


62  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

Accompanied  by  the  young  man  with  whom  he 
resided  at  Xaintonge,  he  proceeded  to  Basil  by  the 
way  of  Lorraine.  Near  Metz,  a  serious  calamity 
befel  him.  Being  plundered  by  a  servant  who  fled 
with  one  of  the  horses,  he  must  have  been  reduced 
to  considerable  difficulty,  had  not  the  other  servant 
providentially  had  ten  crowns,  which  defrayed  their 
expenses  to  Strasbourg,  from  whence  they  proceed- 
ed comfortably  to  Basil.  There  he  formed  a  close 
friendship  with  Simon  Grinee,  and  with  Walfang 
Capito,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  He- 
brew language. 

Though  he  wished  at  this  time  to  remain  in  ob- 
scurity, as  appears  by  a  letter  written  to  him  by 
Bucer,  he  was,  notwithstanding,  constrained  to  pub- 
lish his  Christian  Institutes,  to  serve  as  an  apology 
for  his  persecuted  brethren.  For  as  Francis  I.  was 
desirous  of  the  friendship  of  the  Protestant  princes 
of  Germany,  and  knew  that  they  would  disapprove 
of  the  murder  of  his  Protestant  subjects,  he  affirmed 
that  he  had  only  put  to  death  the  Anabaptists,  who, 
far  from  making  the  word  of  God  the  rule  of  their 
faith,  gave  themselves  up  to  their  disordered  imagi- 
nations, professing  a  contempt  for  magistrates,  and 
sovereign  authorities. 

Calvin,  who  could  not  bear  to  see  the  true  reli- 
gion thus  calumniated,  thought  it  necessary  to 
publish  his  Institutes,  which  he  dedicated  to  Fran- 
cis I.  addressing  him  in  such  an  admirable  manner, 
that,  if  that  prince  could  have  been  persuaded  to 
peruse  it,  the  church  of  Rome  might  then  have  re- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  63 

ceived  a  mortal  wound.*  For  tlie  king  differed  in 
many  respects  from  those  who  succeeded  him  ;  his 
taste  and  his  judgment  were  exquisite;  he  loved 
learning  and  literary  men  ;  nor  did  his  inclination 
lead  him  to  hate  persons  of  the  reformed  religion. 

Whilst  Calvin  was  finishing  this  work,  he  learn- 
ed that  Italy  cherished  in  many  places  ideas  fa- 
vourable to  the  Reformation ;  he  therefore  flew  to 
the  celebrated  Duchess  de  Farrare,  the  daughter 
of  Louis  XII.  whose  genius  and  accomplishments 
made  her  known  to  all  the  learned,  and  towards 
whom  the  wisest  of  the  reformers  turned  with  at- 
tention, because  her  sentiments  were  not  very  re- 
mote from  theirs.  This  princess,  who  was  ac- 
quainted with  Calvin's  merit,  received  him  with 
distinction,  and  Calvin  confirmed  her  in  her  princi- 
ples. She  conceived  also  for  him  an  esteem  which 
she  retained  through  life,  and  expressed  to  him  in 
a  great  variety  of  letters.  Notwithstanding  this 
protection,  the  Inquisition,  aroused  by  the  name  of 
Calvin,  pursued  him  to  the  court  of  the  duchess, 
and  obliged  him  to  fly.  It  was,  no  doubt,  at  this 
time  that  he  arrived  at  the  town  of  Piedmont,  in 
which  he  at  first  preached  the  Reformation  with 

*  "  Which  disgrace  put  upon  the  true  religion,  Mr. 
Calvin  not  enduring,  took  occasion  from  thence  to  pub- 
lish that  his  incomparable  book,  prefixing  a  preface  to 
King  Francisj  which  surely  he  never  read,  or  else  it 
would  have  provoked  him  to  have  given  a  great  wound 
to  the  Babylonish  Whore." — The  Marrow  of  Ecclesi- 
astical History y  by  Samuel  Clark,  1675. 


64  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

success,  but  from  whence  he  was  afterwards  driven 
by  intolerance.  This  fact  is  attested  by  a  pillar  of 
eight  feet  in  height,  still  existing,  erected  to  im- 
mortalize the  arrival  of  Calvin  at  Aost,  and  his  ba- 
nishment from  thence.  Hanc  Calvini  fuga  erexit 
anno  mdxli.  Religionis  constantia  reparavit  anno 
MDCCXLI.  This  monument  appears  to  have  been 
erected  in  1541,  but  the  event  which  it  celebrates 
took  place  towards  the  end  of  1535,  or  the  begin- 
ning of  1536.* 

*  Histoire  Litteraire  de  Geneve,  par  J.  Senebier. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  65 


CHAP.  II. 

Co.lvin^s  Settlement  at  Geneva  —  His  Banishment — 
Return  to  Geneva  —  Labours  —  Acquaintance  and 
Public  Dispute  with  CastalUo  —  Letter  to  Luther 
— Is  accused  of  teaching  False  Doctrine  —  Pro- 
cures the  Release  of  Ami  Perrin —  Confutes  BoU 
zee  publicly. 

ON  quitting  Italy,  Calvin  returned  to  France, 
with  Anthony,  his  only  remaining  brother ;  but  on 
account  of  the  persecutions,  which  then  ran  high, 
he  soon  resolved  to  return  to  Basil  or  Strasbourg. 
But  the  direct  road  being  then  impassable  on  ac- 
count of  the  war,  he  was  compelled  to  go  through 
Geneva.  He  had  then  no  intention  of  stopping 
there ;  but  the  event  soon  made  it  evident  that  he 
had  been  conducted  thither  by  a  secret  determina- 
tion of  Providence.  This  was  in  the  month  of  Au- 
gust 1538.  The  reformed  religion  had  been  won- 
derfully established  there  by  Guillaume  Farel,  and 
Pierre  Yiret.  Farel  had  been  instructed,  not  in  a 
convent,  as  some  have  supposed,  but  in  the  school 
of  Jacques  Le  Fevre  d'Estaples.  Calvin,  not  wil- 
ling to  pass  through  Geneva  without  paying  his 
respects  to  them,  made  them  a  visit;  on  which  oc- 
casion Farel  earnestly  entreated  him  to  stop  at  Ge- 
neva, and  help  him  in  the  labour  to  vyhich  God  had 
6* 


66  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

called  him.  But  perceiving  that  Calvin  was  not  to 
be  prevailed  upon,  he  said,  "  You  have  not  any 
other  pretext  to  refuse  me,  than  the  attachment 
which  you  profess  for  your  studies ;  but  I  warn 
you  in  the  name  of  Almighty  God,  that  if  you  do 
not  share  with  me  the  holy  work  in  which  I  am 
engaged,  he  will  not  bless  your  designs,  since  you 
prefer  your  repose  to  Jesus  Christ."  Calvin,  sub- 
dued by  this  appeal,  submitted  to  the  wish  of  the 
seigneurs,  and  of  the  Consistory  of  Geneva ;  by 
whose  suffrages,  and  the  consent  of  the  people,  he 
was  received  to  the  charge  of  the  ministry,  in  the 
month  of  August  1536. 

"  In  the  month  of  September,  John  Calvin  came 
to  Geneva,  with  his  brother  Anthony.  The  excel- 
lent works,  the  various  circumstances  of  the  life,  the 
great  pains,  and  unwearied  industry  of  this  great 
man,  make  up  a  great  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory of  Geneva,  for  near  thirty  years;  having  been 
for  so  long  a  blessed  instrument  in  God's  hands 
to  maintain  that  pure  Reformation  which  had  been 
preached  by  others,  but  was  not  yet  settled  upon  a 
very  sure  foundation.  He  gave  in  a  manner  to  it 
a  new  birth,  by  the  good  and  wise  regulation,  the 
church  government  and  discipline  established  there. 
Perhaps  never  a  man  before  him,  since  the  Apos- 
tles, that  did  more  good  to  any  church,  than  he  did 
to  this. 

"  In  order  to  keep  up  the  memory  of  that  great 
and  excellent  work  of  the  Reformation,  a  fine  and 


LIFE    OF   CALVIN.  67 

devout  Latin  Inscription  was  put  on  the  outside 
wall  of  the  town-house,  where  it  is  now  to  be  seen. 
It  is  written  in  golden  letters. 

"  QUUM    ANNO    1535 

PROFLIGATA 

ROMANI    ANTICHRISTI 

TYRANNIDE, 

ABROGATISQ,UE    EJUS    SUPERSTITIONIBUS 

SACROSANCTA    CHRISTI    RELIGIO  ; 

6lC    IN    SUAM    PURITATEM, 

ECCLESIA 

IN    MELIOREM    ORDINEM 

3INGULARI    DEI    BENEFICIO    REPOSITA  J 

ET    SIMUL 

PULSIS    FUGATISQUE    HOSTIBUS, 

URBS    IPSA    IN    SUAM    LIBERTATEM, 

NON    SINE    INSIGNI    MIRACULO 

RESTITUTA    FUERIT  I 

SENATUS    POPULUSQ,UE    GENEVENSIS 

MONUMENTUM    HOC    PERPETU^    MEMORISE 

FIERI, 

ATQ,UE  HOC  LOCO  ERIGI 

CURAVIT  ; 
Q,UO  SUAM  ERGA  DEUM  GRATITUDINEM 


*  The  Church  History  of  Geneva.     By  the  Rev.  Mr. 
A.  Le  Mercier,  1732. 


68  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

This  year  was  remarkable  for  a  close  alliance 
contracted  between  Bern  and  Geneva;  and  for  the 
establishment  of  religion  in  Lausanne,  after  a  con- 
ference between  the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics, 
at  which  Calvin  presided.  He  was  also  engaged  in 
a  defence  of  the  reformed,  who  were  attacked  by 
the  Anabaptists,  against  whom  he  employed  scrip- 
ture and  argument  with  so  much  success,  that  he 
expelled  that  sect  entirely  from  Geneva.  In  the 
same  year  he  was  obliged  to  plead  his  cause  at 
Bern,  against  Caroly,  who  had  ac(5used  him  of 
Arianism. 

Geneva  was  at  this  time  very  far  from  being  in 
a  state  of  tranquillity.  The  true  religion  was  in- 
deed established,  and  the  faith  of  the  church  of 
Rome  was  abolished.  But  many  atrocious  crimes 
were  still  committed,  which  had  long  reigned,  and 
which  the  example  of  the  clergy  had  contributed  to 
maintain.  The  principal  families  were  at  variance, 
on  the  ground  of  dissensions  which  had  originated 
during  the  war  of  Savoy,  and  which  time  had  not 
been  able  to  extinguish.  Farel  and  Calvin,  deeply 
afflicted  by  these  disorders,  made  a  representation 
to  the  council,  to  induce  them  to  attempt  the  cor- 
rection of  the  public  morals.  They  preached  with 
energy  against  the  vices  of  the  times  :  and  as  truth 
always  appears  severe  to  those  who  are  conscious 
of  being  guilty,  the  warmth  of  their  zeal  was  com- 
plained of  Coraut  was  forbidden  to  preach,  and 
being  disobedient  to  the  injunction,  was  imprisoned. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  69 

Farel  and  Calvin  were  hated  by  those  who  pre- 
ferred their  vices  and  their  pleasures  to  good  order, 
to  the  advancement  of  religion,  and  to  the  good  of 
their  country  ;  they  therefore  united  their  efforts  to 
get  rid  of  those  vigilant  ministers. 

But,  besides  these  divisions,  there  was  another 
evil  which  afflicted  the  church  of  Geneva.  In  some 
regulations  respecting  ecclesiastical  discipline,  she 
was  not  perfectly  agreed  with  the  church  of  Bern. 
For  the  Genevese  celebrated  the  Lord's  Supper 
with  leavened  bread  ;  and  judging  that  the  baptis- 
mal fonts  were  not  necessary  to  the  administration 
of  baptism,  they  had  removed  them  from  their 
places  of  worship.  They  had  also  abolished  all 
their  feasts,  except  Sunday.  The  church  of  Ge- 
neva having  been  required,  at  a  Synod  held  at 
Lausanne,  to  re-establish  the  use  of  the  baptismal 
fonts,  and  the  feasts  which  she  had  abolished,  and 
the  ministers  of  Geneva  wishing  to  be  heard  before 
they  were  condemned,  it  was  resolved  that  all  these 
diflerences  should  be  settled  in  a  synod  to  be  held 
at  Zurich. 

The  syndics,  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  sedi- 
tious, profiting  by  these  divisions,  assembled  the 
people,  when,  the  majority  being  under  their  influ- 
ence, they  procured  an  order  from  the  council,  by 
which  these  three  faithful  ministers  were  command- 
ed to  leave  the  town  in  three  days.  This  order 
being  communicated  to  Calvin, — "  Certainly,'* 
said  he,  "  if  I  had  served  men,  I  should  have  been 
ill  recompensed ;  but,  I  have  served  a  Master,  who, 


70  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

far  from  not  rewarding  his  servants,  pays  them 
what  he  does  not  owe  them." 

Farel  retired  to  Neuf  Chatel,  and  Calvin  to 
Strasbourg,  where  Bucer,  Capito,  and  Hedio,  en- 
gaged the  council  of  that  town  to  appoint  him  pro- 
fessor of  theology,  and  pastor  of  a  French  church, 
into  which  he  introduced  his  ecclesiastical  discip- 
line. 

Not  long  after  this  unjust  banishment,  Calvin 
extinguished  a  greater  evil,  which  would  probably 
have  been  attended  with  the  worst  consequences, 
had  not  this  illustrious  exile  applied  a  prompt  re- 
medy to  it.  Jacques  Sadolet,  Bishop  of  Carpen- 
tras,  was  a  man  of  considerable  eloquence,  which 
he  employed  only  to  oppose  the  truth.  His  morals 
being  regular,  the  Pope  made  him  a  cardinal,  with 
a  view  to  give  a  currency  to  the  false  doctrine 
taught  in  his  church.  The  cardinal,  seeing  that 
the  people  of  Geneva  were  deprived  of  such  excel- 
lent pastors,  thought  this  a  favourable  opportunity 
to  attract  them  to  the  Romish  religion,  with  which 
view  he  wrote  a  long  letter,  wherein  he  employed 
all  his  address  and  talents  to  overthrow  the  re- 
formed religion,  and  to  establish  his  own.  There 
was  at  this  time  no  person  in  the  town  capable  of 
answering  him;  and  if  this  letter  had  been  written 
in  French,  it  is  probable  that  it  would  have  created 
considerable  disturbances  amongst  a  people  so 
much  divided  and  so  ill  disposed  as  they  were  at 
this  time.  But  Calvin,  forgetting  all  the  injuries 
which    he   had   sustaine'^     evinced    that  the   love 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  ^1 

«hicli  he  had  professed  for  that  church  was  not  di- 
mhiished ;  and  answered  the  Cardinal  with  so 
much  eloquence  and  spirit,  that  he  abandoned  his 
project  entirel}'. 

This  was  not,  however,  the  first  expression  of 
tenderness  which  Calvin  had  shewn  for  the  Gene- 
vese ;  for  he  discovered  the  interest  which  he  took 
in  all  their  afflictions,  by  addressing  to  them  several 
letters  from  Strasbourg,  wherein  he  exhorted  them 
to  repentance,  to  peace,  to  charity,  and  to  the 
love  of  God,  teaching  them  to  hope  that  a  bright 
light  would  soon  dissipate  the  fatal  darkness  in 
which  they  were  enveloped.  The  event  justified 
the  prediction.  At  this  time  he  republished  his 
Christian  Institutes,  with  many  additions,  and  de- 
dicated them  to  his  intimate  friend  Simon  Grinee ; 
he  published  also  a  piece  on  the  Lord's  Supper, 
highly  admired  by  the  wisest  and  the  best  of  men. 

He  was  also  useful  in  reclaiming  many  Anabap- 
tists who  were  brought  to  him  from  various  parts, 
and  amongst  others,  Paul  Volse,*  who  died  a  mi- 
nister of  Strasbourg,  and  Jean  Storder  Liegeois, 
whose  widow  Calvin  afterwards  married,  by  the 
advice  ofBucer;  she  was  a  person  of  extraordinary 
merit. 

Such  were  the  occupations  of  Calvin  until  the 
year  1541,  when  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  con- 
voked a  diet  at  Worms,  and  afterwards  at  Ratis- 

*  It  was  this  person  to  whom  Erasmus  dedicated  his 
book  of  the  Christian  Soldier. 


72  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

bonne,  to  settle  the  differences  which  had  arisen  in 
Germany.  Calvin,  by  desire  of  the  ministers  of 
Strasbourg,  assisted  at  the  diet,  in  which  he  proved 
useful  to  the  churches,  and  particularly  to  those  of 
France,  and  highly  pleased  Philip  Melancthon, 
who  always  spoke  with  applause  of  Calvin,  calling 
him  The  Theologian.  He  also  acquired  the  esteem 
of  Gaspar  Cruciger,  minister  of  Wittemberg,  v/ho 
wished  to  confer  with  him  in  private ;  and  having 
learned  his  opinion  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  declared 
his  entire  approbation  of  it. 

The  faction  which  had  procured  the  banishment 
of  Calvin  being  overthrown,  the  Genevese  were 
anxious  to  recall  him.  In  the  year  1540,  they 
wrote  to  him  at  Strasbourg,  to  offer  him  the  em- 
ployment of  which  they  had  deprived  him  ;  but  he 
replied  that  he  could  not  now  dispose  of  himself, 
that  he  belonged  to  Strasbourg,  and  that  he  wished 
to  be  replaced  at  Geneva  by  Viret.  The  council 
then  sent  Ami  Perrin,  one  of  the  elder  syndics,  to 
Strasbourg,  to  entreat  the  magistrates  to  restore 
Calvin  to  Geneva  :  being  supported  by  the  cantons 
of  Zurich,  of  Bern,  and  of  Basil,  they  compMed 
with  his  request.  Calvin  was  then  gone  to  Worms 
and  to  Ratisbonne,  whither  he  had  been  sent  by  the 
German  reformers  to  assist  at  the  assemblies  held 
there,  relative  to  religion,  where  he  learned  what 
was  taking  place  at  Geneva;  but  he  still  resisted 
the  offers  which  they  made  him.  At  length,  soli- 
cited afresh  by  the  council  and  the  ministers  of  that 
town,   encouraged  by  Bucer,    informed   that   the 


LIFE    OF    CALVIJS.  73 

council  had  revoked  his  banishment  on  the  1st  of 
May,  1541,  and  longing  to  be  useful  to  his  ene- 
mies, he  tore  himself  from  his  church  at  Stras- 
bourg, (who  gave  him  leave  of  absence  for  two 
years,)  left  Ratisbonne,  and  set  out  for  Geneva. 

Alluding  to  the  return  of  Calvin  to  Geneva,  the 
judicious  Hooker  remarks — "  It  was  not  unlikely 
but  that  his  credit  in  the  world  might  many  ways 
stand  the  poor  town  in  great  stead;  as  the  truth  is, 
their  minister's  foreign  estimation  hath  been  the 
best  stake  in  their  hedge.  But  whatever  secret  re- 
spects were  likely  to  move  them,  for  contenting  of 
their  minds,  Calvin  returned,  as  he  had  been  ano- 
ther Tully,  to  his  own  home." 

Upon  his  arrival  he  was  congratulated  by  the 
acclamations  of  the  people;  and  presented  to  the 
council  the  letters  of  the  magistrates  of  Strasbourg. 
The  Genevese,  charmed  at  re-possessing  him,  wrote 
to  Strasbourg  to  obtain  his  final  release.  Stras- 
bourg at  length  relinquished  Calvin  to  the  reitera- 
ted entreaties  of  Geneva  ;  bestowing  upon  him  his 
citizenship,  and  wishing  to  continue  to  him  the 
emoluments  he  had  received,  which,  however,  he 
refused,  though  he  went  to  a  very  diminished  m- 
come  at  Geneva. 

Firm  to  his  principles,  because  he  thought  them 
the  basis  of  the  public  weal,  he  applied  himself  im- 
mediately, upon  his  return  to  Geneva,  to  prevent 
the  corruption  of  morals,  and  projected  an  ecclesi- 
astical police,  which  he  submitted  to  the  council. 
He  revised  the  ecclesiastical  ordinances  with  some 

7 


74  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

magistrates,  who  were  appointed  to  assist  him. 
These  laws  were  presented  to  the  general  council, 
w^ho  sanctioned  them  on  the  20th  of  November 
1541.  It  was  evident  how  far  Calvin  was  from 
wishing  to  give  too  much  power  to  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal body,  so  well  was  the  ecclesiastical  authority 
balanced  by  the  civil.  This  tribunal  of  morals, 
called  the  Consistory,  was  originally  composed  of 
laics  and  ecclesiastics,  but  the  number  of  the  for- 
mer was  then  most  considerable.  This  body,  re- 
spectable for  the  importance  and  delicacy  of  its  con- 
stitution, had  no  power  to  inflict  corporal  punish- 
ments;  but  merely  to  refer  the  more  important 
cases  to  the  council,  with  its  own  judgment  on  the 
evidence.  The  prosperity  of  Geneva  long  remained 
the  happy  fruit  of  these  wise  laws,  which  contribu- 
ted powecfully  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  ancient 
morals.  They  contributed  greatly  to  the  lustre 
and  preservation  of  the  repubhc;  and  it  might  ea- 
sily be  proved,  that  one  of  the  causes  of  the  misfor- 
tunes of  Geneva  was,  the  diminution  of  the  influ- 
ence of  those  laws  upon  individuals.  Rome  was 
lost  when  the  voices  of  the  censors  could  no  longer 
be  heard ;  and  Sparta  fell  with  the  credit  of  those 
who  were  charged  with  the  care  of  watching  over 
the  public  morals,  and  of  making  virtue  respected. 
Shortly  after  his  return  he  composed  a  catechism 
in  Latin  and  in  French,  divided  into  questions  and 
answers.  This  work,  which  proved  highly  useful 
to  the  church,  was  so  well  received  by  different  na- 
tions, that  it  was  not  only  translated  into  many 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  15 

living  languages,  such  as  the  German,  the  English, 
the  Scotch,  the  Flemish,  the  Spanish,  and  the  Itali- 
an, but  also  into  Hebrew  and  into  Greek.^ 

Out  of  respect  to  Farel  and  Viret,  Calvin  dedi- 
cated his  Commentary  upon  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul 
to  Titus,  to  them.  "  In  short,  their  mutual  affec- 
tion was  so  great,  that  they  were  called  the  Tri- 
vet ;  i.  e.  a  ring  with  three  feet ;  and  they  were 
called  so  to  signify  their  firm  union  in  supporting 
the  weighty  cause  of  the  Reformation.  Beza  hath 
very  well  expressed  the  particular  character  of 
those  three  great  men,  and  good  friends,  Calvin, 
Farel,  and  Viret,  in  the  following  epigram : 

"  Gallica  mirata  est  Calvinum  Ecclesia  nuper 

Quo  nemo  docuit  doctius  : 
Est  quoque  te  nuper  mirata  Farelle  tonantem 

Quo  nemo  tonuit  fortius  : 
Et  miratur  adhuc  fundentem  mella  Viretura : 

Quo  nemo  fatur  dulcius. 
Scihcet  aut  tribus  his  servabere  Testibus  dim, 

Aut  interibis  Gallica."  t 

Notwithstanding  the  relief  which  Calvin  conti- 
nually received  from  Farel  and  from  Viret,  it  is  not 
easy  to  conceive  how  he  sustained  his  various  la- 
bours ;  especially  if  we  consider  that  he  was  the 


*  It  was  translated  into  Hebrew  by  Emmanuel  Tre- 
mellius,  and  into  Greek  by  Henrie  Etienne. 

t  The  Church  History  of  Geneva.     By  the  Rev.  An- 
drew Le  iMercier,  1732. 


76  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

subject  of  several  violent  and  continual  clisorders. 
During  a  fortnight  in  each  month,  he  preached 
every  day;  gave  three  lectures  in  theology  every 
week;  assisted  at  all  the  deliberations  of  the  Con- 
sistory, and  at  the  meetings  of  the  pastors  ;  met  the 
congregation  every  Friday  ;  instructed  the  French 
churches  by  the  frequent  advices  which  they  soli- 
cited from  him ;  defended  the  Reformation  against 
the  attacks  of  its  enemies,  and  particularly  those  of 
the  French  priests  ;  was  forced  to  repel  his  nume- 
rous antagonists,  by  various  books  which  he  com- 
posed for  that  purpose ;  and  found  time  to  publish 
several  other  works,  which,  by  their  solidity  and 
depth,  are  calculated  for  the  instruction  of  every 
age. 

But  these  occupations  formed  only  a  part  of  the 
labours  of  this  great  man :  the  council  charged 
him  with  many  painful  and  difficult  commissions ; 
and  he  was  obliged  to  undertake  long  and  frequent 
voyages.  The  council,  who  knew  that  he  was  an 
excellent  civilian,  as  well  as  theologian,  consulted 
him  habitually  in  all  important  concerns.  He  was 
particularly  employed  in  framing  the  edicts  and 
legislative  acts  of  the  town,  which  were  completed 
and  approved  in  the  year  1543.  By  his  reputation 
and  his  eloquence  he  prevented  the  usual  troubles 
of  a  rising  government,  and  inspired  confidence 
amongst  the  different  bodies  of  the  state :  they 
knew  the  extent  of  his  talents ;  they  respected  his 
integrity,  and  reposed  confidently  in  the  inviolable 
attachment  which  he  ever  manifested  for  justice 
and  truth. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  // 

In  the  year  1543,  he  presented  the  church  of 
Geneva  with  a  liturgy,  together  with  directions  as 
to  the  manner  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  Baptism. 

At  this  time,  Charles  V.  appeared  anxious  for  a 
general  council,  in  which  affairs  relating  to  the  Ca- 
tholic and  Reformed  religions  might  be  discussed ; 
but  this  plan,  far  fiom  pleasing  the  Pope,  excited 
his  warmest  indignation.  Nor  was  it  indeed  likely 
that  his  holiness  should  be  so  unconversant  with  the 
interests  of  a  splendid  and  secular  hierarchy,  as  not 
to  know  that  its  most  formidable  enemy  was  a  spi- 
rit of  free  inquiry  and  ample  discussion  :  following, 
therefore,  his  apparent  interest,  he  preferred  the 
convenient  asylum  of  infallibility.  Paul  III.  was 
not,  however,  ashamed  to  publish  his  sentiments  on 
this  plan;  but  Calvin  abundantly  repelled  the  argu- 
ments of  the  pontiff,  at  the  diet  assembled  at  Spire. 
In  another  work,  which  appeared  at  this  time,  he 
proved  the  necessity  of  a  reform  of  the  church. 

A  great  name  is  a  signal  for  calumny  to  the  en- 
vious ;  they  unite  in  order  to  destroy  it.  It  is  true, 
that  Calvin  often  made  himself  enemies  by  saying 
cutting  truths  ;  his  zeal  exasperated  him  against 
those  who  either  attacked  truth,  or  wounded  virtue: 
perhaps  a  consciousness  of  superiority  rendered 
him  severe  upon  those  who  disturbed  him  by  ill- 
founded  attacks,  or  unreasonable  obstinacy. 

Calvin  became  acquainted  with  Castallio  in  the 

year  1539,  at  Strasbourg.     In  a  translation  of  the 

Bible  into  Latin,  he  had  attempted  to  make  the 
7* 


78  MEiMOIRS    OF    THE 

ancient  Hebrew  writers  speak  in  the  language  of 
Cicero,  and  even  endeavoured  to  make  them  some- 
times breathe  the  tender  verses  of  Ovid  :  this  ver- 
sion Calvin  highly  blamed,  as  well  as  several  sen- 
timents which  it  contained.  Castallio,  whose  pride 
was  wounded,  asked  permission  of  the  council  to 
dispute  publicly  with  Calvin  on  the  descent  of  Je- 
sus Christ  into  hell,  which  they  refused ;  but,  from 
a  love  of  truth,  and  a  respect  for  liberty  of  think- 
ing, he  was  allowed  to  commence  that  dispute  be- 
fore the  assembly  of  ministers :  it  lasted  a  long 
while  without  any  success.  Castallio  at  length  be- 
came so  highly  irritated,  that  he  attacked  Calvin  in 
a  sermon,  and  so  grossly  insulted  the  ministers  of 
Geneva,  that  the  council  deposed  him  from  the  mi- 
nistry. Castallio  retired  to  Basil,  where  he  per- 
sisted in  his  singularities,  and  in  his  hatred  of  Cal- 
vin, until  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  Sorbonne,  finding  themselves  supported  by 
P.  Liset,  first  president  of  the  parliament  of  Paris, 
whose  memory  is  execrated  by  all  good  characters, 
undertook  to  draw  up  some  articles  of  faith;  and 
though  it  was  not  difhcult  to  detect  the  falsity  of 
the  dogmas  which  they  contained,  they  were,  not- 
withstanding, approved  by  the  timid  and  the  igno- 
rant. This  induced  Calvin  to  publish  a  piece,  in 
which,  mingling  the  subtlety  of  raillery  with  the 
solidity  of  reasoning,  he  clearly  displayed  the  er- 
rors of  the  Sorbonne. 

"  A  letter,  about  this  time,  was  intercepted  from 
Calvin  to  Viret,  and  read  before  the  council,  ac- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  79 

cusing  the  Genevois  of  impiety  and  hypocrisy. 
Calvin,  being  questioned  upon  this  letter,  boldly 
justified  it,  but  applied  his  reflections  to  particular 
persons ;  upon  which  he  was  acquitted ;  and  he 
continued  his  disputations  and  publications  upon 
religion  with  great  success."* 

Amongst  other  enemies,  by  whom  the  church 
was  attacked,  was  Albert  Pighius,  whom  Calvin 
withstood  and  refuted,  notwithstanding  his  nume- 
rous avocations.  Pighius,  being  a  profound  so- 
phist, thought,  that  though  Calvin  was  a  formida- 
ble adversary,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  vanquish 
him ;  and  that  he  could  thus  signalize  himself,  and 
obtain  a  cardinal's  hat,  as  the  price  of  his  victory. 
But  Calvin  repelled  the  attacks  of  Pighius  with  so 
much  vigour,  that  he  found  himself  disappointed  of 
the  recompense  which  he  had  anticipated,  and 
reaped  from  his  temerity  only  shame  and  confu- 
sion. Melancthon,  to  whom  Calvin  dedicated  his 
work,  to  testify  the  esteem  in  which  he  held  it, 
wrote  several  letters,  which  were  afterwards  pub- 
lished, and  which  may  serve  to  undeceive  pos- 
terity with  respect  to  the  calumnies  which  have 
been  thrown  upon  those  illustrious  men.  A  letter 
which  Calvin  wrote  to  the  church  of  Montbelliard, 
is  a  sufficient  answer  to  those  who  accuse  him  of 
severity  in  the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  discipline. 

To  refute  the  errors  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  of 

*  The  Modern  Part  of  an  Universal  History,  by  the 
Authors  of  the  Ancient  Part. 


80  MEMOIRS    OF    THE  * 

the  libertines,  who  had  revived  the  most  detestable 
heresies  of  antiquity,  he  composed  a  work  which 
it  is  impossible  to  read  with  attention  without  be- 
ing shocked  at  their  detestable  doctrines.  This 
work,  however,  displeased  the  Queen  of  Navarre ; 
for  though  she  was  not  infected  with  their  errors, 
she  was  so  fully  persuaded  of  the  merit  of  Quintin, 
and  of  Pocquet,  the  most  famous  leaders  of  that 
sect,  whom  Calvin  had  named  in  that  work,  and 
had  so  great  a  regard  for  them,  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  attack  them  without  deeply  wounding  her. 

Calvin,  having  learned  that  she  supported  those 
sectaries,  wrote  to  her  with  such  address  and  pru- 
dence, that,  preserving  the  respect  which  was  due 
to  her,  as  well  on  account  of  her  dignity,  as  of  se- 
veral kindnesses  which  she  had  bestowed  upon  the 
church,  he  addressed  her  with  a  boldness  and  free- 
dom worthy  a  courageous  servant  of  God,  and 
represented  to  her  the  impropriety  of  defending 
such  persons.  Thus  he  maintained  the  dignity  of 
his  ministry ;  and  his  labours  were  so  successful, 
that  that  execrable  sect,  which  had  begun  to  spread 
in  France,  was  confined  to  Holland  and  the  neigh- 
bouring countries. 

"  In  the  year  1541,  John  Calvin,  who  surpassed 
almost  all  the  doctors  of  this  age,  in  laborious  ap- 
plication, constancy  of  mind,  force  of  eloquence, 
and  extent  of  genius,  returned  to  Geneva,  from 
whence  the  opposition  of  his  enemies  had  obliged 
him  to  retire.  On  his  settlement  in  that  city,  the 
affairs  of  the  new  church  were  committed  to  his 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  81 

directioiij  and  he  acquired  also  a  high  degree  of 
influence  in  the  political  administration  of  that  re- 
public. This  event  changed  entirely  the  face  of 
affairs,  and  gave  a  new  aspect  to  the  reformed 
church.  For  he  not  only  undertook  to  give  strength 
and  vigour  to  the  rising  church,  by  framing  the 
wisest  laws  and  the  most  salutary  institutions  for 
the  maintenance  of  order,  and  the  advancement  of 
true  piety,  but  even  proposed  to  render  Geneva 
the  mother,  the  seminary  of  all  the  reformed 
churches,  as  Wittemberg  was  of  all  the  Lutheran 
communities.  He  laid  a  scheme  for  sending  forth 
from  this  little  republic  the  succours  and  ministers 
that  were  to  promote  and  propagate  the  Protestant 
cause  through  the  most  distant  nations,  and  aimed 
at  nothing  less  than  rendering  the  government, 
discipline,  and  doctrine  of  Geneva,  the  model  and 
rule  of  imitation  to  the  reformed  churches  through- 
out the  world.  The  undertaking  was  certainly 
great,  and  worthy  of  the  extensive  genius  and 
capacity  of  this  eminent  man  ;  and  great  and  ardu- 
ous as  it  was,  it  was  executed  in  part,  nay,  carried 
on  to  a  very  considerable  length,  by  his  indefati- 
gable assiduity  and  inextinguishable  zeal.  It  was 
with  this  view,  that,  by  the  fame  of  his  learning,  as 
well  as  by  his  epistolary  solicitations  and  encou- 
ragements of  various  kinds,  he  engaged  many  per- 
sons of  rank  and  fortune,  in  France,  Italy,  and 
other  countries,  to  leave  the  places  of  their  nativi- 
ty, and  to  settle  at  Geneva ;  while  others  repaired 
thither  merely  out  of  curiosity  to  see  a  man  whose 


82  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

talents  and  exploits  had  rendered  him  so  famous, 
and  to  hear  the  discourses  which  he  delivered  in 
public.  Another  circumstance,  that  contributed 
much  to  the  success  of  his  designs,  was  the  es- 
tablishment of  an  academy  at  Geneva,  which  the 
senate  of  that  city  founded  at  his  request ;  and  in 
which  he  himself,  with  his  colleague,  Theodore 
Beza,  and  other  divines  of  eminent  learning  and 
abiHties,  taught  the  sciences  with  the  greatest  repu- 
tation. In  effect,  the  lustre  which  these  great  men 
reflected  upon  this  infant  seminary  of  learning, 
spread  its  fame  through  the  distant  nations  with 
such  amazing  rapidity,  that  all  who  were  ambitious 
of  a  distinguished  progress  in  either  sacred  or  pro- 
fane erudition,  repaired  to  Geneva;  and  that  £w^- 
la7id,  Scotland,  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  seem- 
ed to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  number  of  their 
studious  youths,  that  were  incessantly  repairing  to 
the  new  academy.  By  these  means,  and  by  the 
ministry  of  these  his  disciples,  Calvin  enlarged 
considerably  the  borders  of  the  reformed  church, 
propagated  his  doctrine,  and  gained  proselytes 
and  patrons  to  his  theological  system,  in  several 
countries  of  Europe."* 

During  this  year,  the  plague  made  the  greatest 
ravages  in  Geneva.  Afi'ected  by  the  afflictions  of 
his  fellow  citizens,  and  alarmed  at  the  corrupt  state 
of  morals,  which  made  him  apprehensive  of  still 
more  fearful  evils,  Calvin  thundered  from  the  pul- 

*  Mosheim. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  83 

pit  against  their  vices  :  he  also  engaged  the  coun- 
cil to  enact  severer  laws  against  fornication  and 
adultery.*  In  the  midst  of  the  distress  which  he 
felt  at  the  view  of  this  exterminating  scourge, 
which  was  depriving  Geneva  of  its  citizens,  he  ex- 
perienced some  consolation  from  the  succours 
which  he  procured  for  the  Vaudois,  who  had  es- 
caped the  massacres  of  Merindol,  and  of  Chabriere; 
having  obtained  for  them  a  sum  of  mone}^  from  the 
tow  n  of  Strasbourg,  and  from  the  German  princes. 
It  was  not  in  his  own  power  to  give  any  thing  him- 
self, because  he  possessed  nothing;  but,  as  he  never 
asked  for  himself,  so  he  always  conscientiously  dis- 
tributed the  liberality  of  his  benefactors  to  those 
who  were  unfortunate. 

The  year  1541  was  rendered  "infamous,  by  that 
abominable  and  cruel  edict  which  the  Parliament 
of  Aquitaine  set  forth  against  the  poor  Waldenses 
of  Merindol,  Cabriers,  and  those  parts,  whereby 
most  unheard-of  cruelties  were  exercised,  not 
against  some  few,  but  against  all  of  them,  without 
any  distinction  of  ages  or  sex,  yea,  to  the  very 
burning  of  their  towns.  Some  of  these  that  es- 
caped flying  to  Geneva,  Master  Calvin  was  the 
more  afflicted  for  them,  and  careful  of  them,  be- 

*  ^'  In  the  year  1542,  the  plague  being  at  Geneva,  the 
great  palace  was  fitted  up  for  an  hospital ;  but  the  magis- 
trates held  Calvin  in  so  great  esteem,  that  they  would  not 
suffer  him  to  attend  the  infected,  and  he  went  to  Stras- 
bourg, where  he  renewed  his  disputations  with  Caroline.'' 
— Modern  Part  of  Universal  History. 


64  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

cause  a  little  before  he  had  written  consolatory 
letters  to  them,  and  sent  them  faithful  pastors  for 
the  instructing  of  them  out  of  the  pure  gospel, 
and  had  also  (where  they  were  in  danger  before) 
preserved  them  by  his  intercession  to  the  German 
Princes  and  Helvetians."* 

"  In  the  year  1545,  the  province  of  Provence, 
was  governed  by  a  nobleman  of  the  name  of  Ope- 
de;  during  whose  administration  that  whole  de- 
partment was  such  a  scene  of  cruelty,  devastation, 
and  slaughter  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  as  is 
almost  too  horrible  to  be  related:  and  therefore  a 
specimen  may  suffice.  Commissions  were  exe- 
cuted in  great  abundance  against  the  heretics,  by 
the  advocate  Guerin,  and  war  proclaimed  by  sound 
of  trumpet,  both  at  Aix  and  Marseilles.  The  troops 
being  levied,  were  joined  by  five  ensigns  of  the  old 
bands  of  Piedmont,  on  which  the  army  was  put  in 
motion.  On  the  14th  of  April  they  arrived  at  Ca- 
dinet,  and  on  the  16th  began  to  set  fire  to  the  villa- 
ges of  Cabriers,  Pepin  La  Mothe,  and  St.  Martin. 
The  peasantry  and  labourers  were  slain  without 
making  resistance;  their  wives  and  daughters  vio- 
lated, pregnant  females  and  little  children  massa- 
cred without  pity  or  compassion.  The  governor 
issued  a  proclamation,  that  none  should  dare,  on 
pain  of  the  halter,  to  give  food  or  shelter  to  any  of 
the  fugitives.     The  soldiers  ransacked,  burnt,  and 


*  Marrow  of  Ecclesiastical  History.   By  Samuel  Clark, 
1675. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  85 

pillaged  whatever  came  in  their  way,  leaving  none 
of  the  inhabitants  alive  but  such  as  were  reserved 
for  the  gallies.  On  the  1 7th,  Opede  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  Piedmontees,  and  on  the  following 
day  caused  the  villages  of  Larmarin,  Ville  Laure, 
and  Trezemines,  to  be  burnt,  while  the  Sieur  de  la 
Rocque  burnt  Genson  and  la  Rocque.  On  his  arri- 
val at  Merindol,  Opede  found  the  town  wholly  desert- 
ed, except  by  one  person,  a  kind  of  idiot,  who  sur- 
rendered himself  without  resistance  to  the  soldiers. 
Finding  no  other  person  on  whom  to  wreak  his  ven- 
geance, Opede  caused  him  to  be  fastened  to  a  tree 
and  shot  to  death;  after  which  he  gave  orders  for 
the  village,  consisting  of  two  hundred  houses,  to 
be  pillaged,  burnt,  and  razed  to  the  ground. 

".The  town  of  Cabriers  still  remained:  but  they 
surrounded  the  walls,  and  were  proceeding  to  bat- 
ter it  down  with  cannon  shot.  Si.xty  peasants,  who 
were  shut  up  within  the  town,  probably  having  un- 
dertaken to  defend  it,  gave  them  to  understand, 
that  it  was  mmecessary  to  be  at  the  pains  of  batter- 
ing down  the  walls,  since  they  were  ready  to  open 
the  gates  to  them,  and  to  leave  the  country  and  go 
to  Geneva,  or  into  Germany,  w  ith  their  wives  and 
children,  leaving  every  thing  behind  them,  if  a  safe 
passage  should  be  granted  them.  The  Lord  of 
Cabriers  interceded  in  their  behalf;  but  Opede, 
getting  within  the  city,  ordered  the  men  to  be  con- 
veyed into  a  meadow,  where  he  caused  them  to  be 
hewn  in  pieces  by  the  sword,  the  murderous  execii- 
8 


86  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

tioners  amusing  themselves  at  the  same  time  by  try- 
ing their  dexterity  in  cutting  off  their  heads,  arms, 
and  legs.  The  females  he  ordered  to  be  shut  up 
in  a  barn,  which  was  then  filled  with  straw  and  set 
on  fire,  when  they  were  all  consumed,  many  of  them 
being  in  a  state  of  pregnacy.  On  searching  the 
town,  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  found  secreted 
in  vaults  and  caverns ;  but  they  were  brought  into 
the  hall  of  the  castle,  and  barbarously  massacred  in 
the  presence  of  Opede.  The  women  and  children 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  temple  (probably  a 
place  of  worship)  were  exposed  to  the  ruffians  of 
Avignon,  who  slew  about  800,  without  distinction 
of  age  or  sex.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mej-in- 
dol  and  other  places,  foreseeing  the  evil,  had  be- 
taken themselves  to  flight;  bnt  they  were  now  pur- 
sued by  Opede  and  his  army  over  rocks  and  moun- 
tains, and  forced  to  great  extremities  and  distress. 
When  overtaken,  they  supplicated  that  they  might 
be  permitted  to  retire  to  Geneva  with  their  wives 
and  children;  but  the  monster  answered,  that  he 
w^ould  send  ihem,  with  their  wives  and  children,  to 
dwell  with  the  devils  in  the  infernal  regions,  so  as 
to  blot  out  the  very  memory  of  them  from  the  face 
of  the  earth."* 


*  See  History  of  the  Waldenses,  by  William  Jones;  a 
work  in  the  highest  degree  creditable  to  the  industry  and 
talents  of  its  Author. 

The  recent  persecution  of  the  French  Protestants, 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  87 

Lo !  stalking  from  a  murky  cave, 
And  pointing  to  a  new-made  grave, 
Crown'd  with  a  garland  steep'd  in  tears, 
The  Monster,  Bigotry,  appears ! 

At  his  approach,  with  instant  dread, 
We  bless  our  friends  already  dead, 
And  hail  the  tomb  for  ever  blest, 
Where  weary  souls  securely  rest. 

Offspring  of  hell,  and  death's  ally  ! 
Thy  music  is  the  orphan's  cry ; 
The  widow's  blighted  heart  thy  feast, 
Thine  agent  the  cold-blooded  priest. 

The  nation's  annals  thou  hast  stain'd, 
,  The  feeling  heart,  how  deeply  pain'd ! 
•  _  But  thou,  destroyer,  shalt  be  slain, 
And  freedom  reign  on  earth  again. 

The  controversy  respecting  the  Supper  of  our 
Lord  was  at  this  time  renewed.     Osiander,  a  vain 


which  has  disgraced  the  Nineteenth  Century,  and  which 
the  ecclesiastical  historian  will  not  fail  to  put  upon  record, 
having  excited  the  sympathy  of  the  Protestant  Dissenting 
Ministers  of  the  three  denominations  in  London  and  its  vi- 
cinity, collections  have,  by  their  means,  been  made  in  the 
metropolis,  and  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  amounting 
to  six  thousand  two  hundred  pounds j  the  greater  part  of 
which  has  been  transmitted  to  the  pastors  of  the  French 
Protestant  Churches.  Several  letters  have  been  received 
from  the  French  Protestants,  acknowledging  the  seasona- 
ble relief  thus  afforded,  and  expressing  a  conviction  that 
the  conduct  of  their  British  friends  had  interposed  a  shield 
between  them  and  their  enemies. 


88  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

and  proud  man,  of  an  ardent  spirit,  having  rekiii- 
died  the  fire  of  discord,  which  seemed  entirely  ex- 
tinguished, Calvin  did  all  in  his  power  to  terminate 
this  difference,  and  with  this  view  wrote  several 
letters.  Osiander  refused  to  listen  to  the  wise 
counsels  of  Calvin  and  of  Melancthon;  but  the  salu- 
tary work  of  calming  the  commotions  which  had 
long  continued  between  the  Lutherans  and  the  Re- 
formed, concerning  the  eucharist,  "  seemed  to  be 
facilitated  by  the  theological  system  that  was  adopt- 
ed by  John  Calvin,  a  nativ'e  of  Noyon,  in  France, 
who  was  pastor  and  professor  of  divinity  at  Ge- 
neva, and  whose  genius,  learning,  eloquence,  and 
talents,  rendered  him  respectable,  even  in  the  eyes 
of  his  enemies.  This  great  man,  whose  particular 
friendship  for  Melancthon  was  an  incidental  circum- 
stance highly  favourable  to  the  intended  reconcilia- 
tion, proposed  an  explication  of  the  point  in  debate, 
that  modified  the  crude  hypothesis  of  Zuingle,  and 
made  use  of  all  his  credit  and  authority  among  the 
Swiss,  and  more  particularly  at  Zurich,  where  he 
was  held  in  the  highest  veneration,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain their  assent  to  it.  The  explication  he  proposed 
was  not  indeed  favourable  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ's 
bodily  presence  in  the  eucharist,  which  he  persisted 
in  denying:  he  supposed,  however,  that  a  certain 
divine  virtue  or  efiicacy  was  communicated  by 
Christ,  with  the  bread  and  wine,  to  those  who  ap- 
proached this  holy  sacrament  with  a  lively  faith, 
and  with  upright  hearts;  and  to  render  this  notion 
still  more  satisfactory,  he  expressed  it  in  ahuost  the 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  89 

same  terms  which  the  Lutherans  employed  in  incul- 
cating their  doctrines."* 

A  Genevese  of  the  name  of  Troillet,  who,  though 
young,  was  consummately  artful,  after  having 
counterfeited  the  hermit  in  France,  returned  to 
Geneva.  As  Calvin  was  remarkable  for  his  pene- 
tration into  characters,  he  soon  developed  this  man, 
notwithstanding  the  pains  which  he  took  to  conceal 
his  vices  under  false  appearances.  Calvin  at  first 
reproved  him  privately  with  great  mildness;  but 
finding  that  his  charitable  counsels  were  useless  tc 
him,  and  that  his  audacity  and  his  insolence  in- 
creased daily,  he  undertook  to  reprove  him  pub- 
licly. But  this  hypocrite,  far  from  profiting  by 
these  reproofs,  endeavoured  to  avail  himself  of  the 
protection  of  those,  whose  vices  Calvin  was  accus- 
tomed to  condemn.  One  of  the  pastors  having  re- 
cently died,  he  had  the  effrontery  to  aim  at  succeed- 
ing him.  Calvin  opposed  him;  and  having  shewn 
the  contrariety  of  such  conduct  to  the  word  of  God, 
he  obtained,  by  permission  of  the  council,  the  en- 
forcement of  the  rules  of  the  church. 

There  were  also  at  this  time  certain  persons,  who. 
having  renounced  the  Protestant  faith  through 
dread  of  persecution,  flattered  themselves  that  there 
was  no  harm  in  remaining  in  the  external  commu- 
nion of  the  church  of  Rome,  provided  they  em- 
braced the  true  religion  in  their  hearts.  And  be- 
cause Calvin,  who  condemned  so  pernicious  a  sen- 

*  Mosheim'g  History  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

"  8* 


90  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

timent,  was  considered  by  them  as  carrying  his  se* 
verity  to  an  extreme,  he  shewed  clearly  that  his 
opinion  was  in  unison,  not  only  with  those  of  the 
fathers  of  the  church,  but  also  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  most  learned  theologians  of  the  age,  such  as 
Melancthon,  Bucer,  and  Martyr,  as  well  as  the  mi- 
nisters of  Zurich;  and  so  completely  extinguished 
that  error,  that  all  pious  persons  censured  the  Nico- 
demites  ;  a  name  given  to  those  who  defended  their 
dissimulation  by  the  example  of  Nicodemus. 

The  introduction  of  the  following  letter,  in  illus- 
tration of  the  solicitude  of  Calvin  for  the  purity  of 
the  reformed  worship,  needs  no  apology.  The 
justness  of  the  sentiments,  the  perspicuity  of  the 
reasoning,  and  especially  the  veneration  which  it 
discovers  for  the  illustrious  character  to  whom  it 
was  addressed,  must  recommend  it  to  the  approba- 
tion of  every  intelligent  Protestant. 

^'  To  the  truly  excellent  Doctor  of  the  Christiad 
"  Church,  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

'•  My  highly  honoured  Father  in  Jesus  Christ, 

"  Finding  those  Frenchmen  who  had  been  re- 
stored from  the  darkness  of  Popery  to  the  light  of 
the  true  doctrine  made  no  alteration  in  their  con- 
fession of  faith ;  but  that  they  continued  to  sully 
themselves  with  the  profanations  of  the  papists, 
as  if  they  had  no  relish  for  the  true  doctrine;  I 
could  not  refrain  from  reproving  such  extreme 
stupidity,  with  that  vehemence  and  asperity  which 
I  believe   they  deserved.     For  can   we  call  that 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  91 

faith,  which,  buried  at  the  bottom  of  the  soul,  ne- 
ver discovers  itself  by  any  confession  f  Or  ought 
we  to  call  diat  religion,  which  disguises  itself  un- 
der the  mask  of  idolatry? — I  do  not  here  under- 
take a  thorough  discussion  of  the  question :  I 
have  already  explained  myself  sufficiently  in  two 
small  works  which  I  have  composed  on  that  topic. 
And  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  glance  at  them, 
you  will  better  understand  my  opinion  on  that 
question,  and  upon  what  reasons  it  is  founded. 
Some  persons  who  previously  slept  in  great  secu- 
rity, buried  in  profound  slumbers,  being  roused 
by  the  perusal  of  them,  have  begun  to  consider 
what  they  ought  to  do.  But  because  it  is  very 
hard  to  the  flesh,  either  to  neglect  its  own  inte- 
rests, so  far  as  to  endanger  life ;  or  so  to  irritate 
the  minds  of  others  as  to  become  the  object  of 
public  hatred;  or  to  abandon  our  property  and 
our  country,  and  thus  to  condemn  ourselves  to  a 
voluntary  banishment;  it  happens  but  too  fre- 
quently that  these  difficulties  prevent  a  constant 
and  firm  resolution.  They  allege  also  other  rea- 
sons, which  indeed  appear  plausible,  but  which, 
however,  prove  sufficiently,  that  their  sole  design 
is  only  to  seek  pretexts  to  conceal  the  irresolution 
which  agitates  their  minds.  They  desire  to  have 
your  judgment,  for  which  they  entertain  a  just  ve- 
neration, and  which  will  have  great  weight  to  de- 
liver them  from  these  uncertainties,  and  to  confirm 
them  in  their  duty.  They  have,  therefore,  en- 
treated me  to  send  you  an  express,   which   may 


92  iMEMOIRS    OF    THE 

bring  back  your  conclusion  on  this  subject.  Tiiis 
office  I  could  by  no  means  refuse  to  their  solicita- 
tion, both  because  I  thought  it  important  for  them 
to  be  upheld  by  your  authority,  that  they  might 
not  ever  float  in  these  uncertainties,  and  that  I  my- 
self felt  disposed  to  solicit  this  help.  Thus,  my 
highly  honoured  Father  in  the  Lord,  I  conjure 
3'ou  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  bear  with  this  importunity, 
both  for  their  sake*  and  mine ;  and  to  read  for 
your  entertainment,  in  your  leisure  hours,  the  let- 
ter addressed  to  you  in  their  name,  and  my  two 
small  books ;  or  to  employ  somebody  to  read 
them,  who  shall  report  the  principal  particulars  to 
you;  and  to  take  the  trouble  in  the  second  place 
to  explain  to  us  in  an  answer  of  three  words,  your 
opinion  on  this  subject.  It  is  contrary  to  my  in- 
clination to  divert  3'ou  from  those  great  and  vari- 
ous afl^airs  which  occupy  you,  and  to  give  you  this 
trouble.  But  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  accord- 
ing to  your  uniform  equity,  seeing  that  necessity 
urges  me  to  make  this  request,  you  will  easily  for- 
give the  liberty  I  take,  and  the  trouble  which  I 
give  you.  Would  to  God  that  I  were  permitted 
to  fly  hence,  that  I  might  enjoy,  at  least  for  a  few 
liours,  your  conversation!  I  should  receive  much 
more  pleasure,  and  it  would  be  much  more  advan- 
tageous to  confer  with  you  personally  on  this,  and 
on  various  other  subjects.  But  I  hope,  that  what 
may  not  be  granted  to  us  on  earth,  will  soon  be 
given  to  us  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Adieu,  most 
illustrious  man !   most  excellent  minister  of  Jesus 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  93 

Christ,  and  my  highly  honoured  Father.  I  beseech 
the  Lord  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit  unto  the  end, 
for  the  common  good  and  edification  of  his 
church."* 

''20th  Jan.  1545. 

The  vigour  with  which  Calvin  attacked  the  vi- 
cious and  their  vices,  brought  upon  him  a  thousand 
inconveniences  from  those  who  exposed  themselves 
to  the  effects  of  his  zeal  and  vigilance.  A  wo- 
man, whom  he  had  reproved  publicly,  called  him 
a.  ivicked  md.n.  Calvin  avenged  himself  by  obtain- 
ing her  pardon  of  the  council,  who  had  imprisoned, 
and  intended  to  punish  her. 

The  following  year  proved  no  less  unfavourable 
to  Calvin's  repose.  He  was  now  obliged  to  cheer 
the  drooping  spirits  of  the  Genevese,  whom  the 
designs  of  Charles  V.  against  the  reformed  reli- 
gion had  alarmed.  But,  besides  the  cares  which 
the  fear  of  all  those  evils  occasioned  him,  he  was 
deeply  afflicted  at  the  state  of  Geneva,  and  the  ge- 
neral and  daring  profligacy  of  its  inhabitants. 

At  the  head  of  these  persons,  was  a  man  named 
Ami  Perrin,  who,  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people, 
had  been  made  capitaine  general.  This  man, 
knowing  that  neither  his  accomplices  nor  himself 
could  thrive  whilst  the  laws  were  maintained  with 
vigour,  and  Calvin  thundered  against  their  vices 

*  Institution  de  la  Religion  Christienne.  Traduit  pav 
Charles  Icard.  p.  145- 


94  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

and  their  disorders,  discovered  this  year  what 
he  had  long  projected ;  and  because  his  perni- 
cious designs  were  no  sooner  developed  than  they 
were  crushed  by  the  seigneurs,  he  remained  some 
time  quiet;  but  this  was  only  with  a  view  to  a 
more  public  attack;  for  shortly  afterwards,  one 
of  the  seigneurs,  instigated,  as  it  has  been  sup- 
posed, by  two  ministers  who  were  given  to  wine, 
and  who  had  good  reasons  to  fear  the  severity  of 
the  laws,  accused  Calvin  of  teaching  false  doc- 
trine. But,  far  from  being  injured  by  the  malice 
of  his  enemies,  he  was  fully  justified  from  this  ca- 
lumny, his  accuser  being  condemned  as  infamous, 
and  the  two  ministers  deposed.* 

While  Calvin  was  called  to  contend  against 
those  whose  love  of  independence,  and  whose  vio- 
lent passions  removed  them  far  from  decency  and 
virtue,  which  he  wished  to  establish  in  Geneva, 
he  triumphed  over  their  cabal  by  his  firmness 
and  his  courage;  nor  did  he  ever  favour  those 
whom  rank  and  fortune  seemed  to  authorize  to 
follow  their  inclinations.  He  summoned  the  wife 
of  a  principal  citizen  before  the  Consistory  for 
having  blasphemed  in  a  private  house;  she  was 
condemned  to  a  pecuniary  punishment.    Ami  Per- 


*  "  In  the  year  1546,  Perrin  and  his  followers  had  plot- 
ted to  murder  in  one  night  all  the  French  refugees ;  but 
the  conspirators  were  delected,  prevented,  and  punished." 
— The  Church  History  of  Geneva,  hy  the  Rev.  A.  Le 
Mcrcier,  17S2. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIxN.  95 

rin  himself,  whose  life  was  very  disorderly,  was 
excommunicated,  deprived  of  his  place  of  counsel- 
lor, and  condemned  to  two  months'  imprisonment} 
but,  although  this  man  had  always  encouraged  the 
enemies  of  Calvin,  and  been  the  cause  of  all  the 
troubles  which  he  had  experienced  from  the  go- 
vernment, Calvin,  nevertheless,  employed  his  elo- 
quence and  his  interest  to  procure  the  repeal  of 
his  sentence,  and  had  the  Christian  satisfaction  to 
see  his  mortal  enemy  released  from  prison,  and  re- 
stored to  his  employment. 

Germany  was  at  this  time  reduced  to  the  great- 
est extremity;  her  towns  having  either  surren- 
dered to  the  emperor,  or  been  taken  by  force,  she 
beheld  the  sudden  ruin  of  a  work,  which  had  been 
the  labour  of  many  years.  Happy,  indeed,  were 
they  whom  death  prevented  from  being  spectators 
of  that  dreadful  desolation.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted 
that  these  calamities  deeply  afflicted  Calvin,  since 
it  is  certain  that  when  the  churches  enjoyed  a  pro- 
found peace,  he  took  as  great  an  interest  in  those 
that  were  most  remote,  as  if  they  had  been  com- 
mitted to  his  care.  Besides  which,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  him  to  learn  that  those  illustrious  charac- 
ters, Melancthon,  Bucer,  and  Martyr,  his  dearest 
friends,  were  exposed  to  the  most  imminent  pe- 
rils, without  being  penetrated  with  the  profoundest 
grief  Great,  however,  as  were  his  afflictions,  he 
supported  them  with  heroic  courage,  and  though 
persecuted  by  the  wicked,  his  constancy  and  his 
virtue  remained  unshaken. 


9b  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

In  the  year  1547,  and  on  the  26th  of  July, 
Jacques  Gruet  was  beheaded.  Gruet  was  one  of 
those  men  whom  vice  and  public  disorders  render 
famous :  impatient  under  the  restraints  of  the  laws, 
he  had  the  audacity  to  affix  against  the  pulpit  of 
the  cathedral,  a  libel  against  the  reformed  Gene- 
vese,  and  particularly  the  reformers  and  minis- 
ters. Being  immediately  apprehended,  and  his 
papers  and  letters  examined,  they  Avere  found  to 
contain  several  violent  passages  against  Calvin; 
as  well  as  a  petition  which  he  wished  to  present  to 
the  General  Council  against  the  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline, the  object  of  which  was  to  suppress  the 
bounds  which  it  imposed  upon  those  who  led  a 
vicious  life.  A  paper  was  also  found  containing 
objections  against  the  authority  of  the  sacred 
books,  the  spirituality  and  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  the  last  judgment.  His  sentence  condemns 
him  for  having  spoken  w  ith  contempt  of  religion ; 
for  having  maintained  that  laws,  human  and  di- 
vine, were  the  work  of  caprice  ;  for  having  written 
impious  letters  and  licentious  songs  ;  for  having 
maintained  that  fornication  was  not  criminal,  when 
both  parties  consented  ;  for  having  attempted  to 
overthrow  the  ecclesiastical  institutions,  and  the 
authority  of  the  Consistory  ;  for  having  threatened 
the  reformers  and  the  ministers  ;  for  having  spoken 
disrespectfully  of  them,  and  particularly  of  Calvin; 
for  having  written  letters  calculated  to  irritate  the 
court  of  France  against  Calvin;  and  to  engage  the 
King  of  France  to  write  to  the   council  against 


LIFE    OF    CALVIX.  97 

Iilm  ;  and  finally  for  having  threatened  the  council 
itself.  The  reasons  of  this  condemnation,  judging 
from  the  sentence  itself,  demonstrate  that  the  death 
of  Graet  was  the  effect  of  his  impiety,  and  of  his 
-threats  against  the  government. 

During  these  troubles,  Calvin  composed  a  work 
entitled  L' Antidote,  against  the  doctrine  contained 
in  the  first  seven  sections  of  the  Council  of  Trent: 
and  wrote  also  to  the  church  of  Rouen,  to  fortify 
her  against  the  artifices  and  the  errors  of  a  certain 
monk  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  who  was  endea- 
vouring to  infect  that  church  with  the  heresy  of 
Carpocrates.* 

Undiverted  by  these  foreign  cares,  he  continued 
his  ordinary  occupations,  and  composed  his  excel- 
lent Commentaries  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul. 
As  many  persons  entertained  a  high  opinion  of 
judicial  astrology,  he  justly  exposed  it  in  an  ele- 
gant work  which  he  published  on  the  subject. 
Having  received  an  obliging  letter  from  Brentius, 
who  was  exiled  at  Basil,  he  consoled  him  with 
much  tenderness.  And  it  were  to  be  wished,  that 
Brentius  had  ever  preserved  the  sentiments  which 
he  expressed  at  that  time,  and  had  not  broken  the 
bonds   which   attached   him  to  Calvin.     He  also 


*  Carpocrates  was  a  heretic  of  the  second  century, 
who  flourished  at  Alexandria  about  the  year  130.  He 
revived  the  Gnostic  heresy,  to  which  he  added  the  anti- 
noraian  doctrine,  that  actions  are  indifferent,  as  the  pas- 
sions are  planted  in  human  nature  by  God  himself.  His 
son  Epiphanius  taught  the  same  opinions. — Mosheim, 
9 


98  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

wrote  to  Biicer,  who  was  in  Engkiid,  and  after 
exhorting  him  to  avow  more  openly  his  opinion  on 
the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  he  renewed  the  assurances 
of  a  sincere  and  ardent  friendship.  To  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  Protector  of  England,  he  sent  such 
useful  and  important  advice,  as,  had  it  been  fol- 
lowed, would  have  saved  the  British  church  from 
many  calamities. 

The  church  of  Geneva,  though  surrounded  by 
afflictions,  increased  rapidly;  and  Calvin  received, 
with  every  mark  of  tenderness,  those  who  were  ba- 
nished from  their  country  on  account  of  their  at- 
tachment to  the  gospel.  God,  likewise,  so  emi- 
nently blessed  the  labours  of  his  servant,  that  the 
faction  of  the  seditious  was  almost  entirely  sub- 
dued. He  stood,  indeed,  in  great  need  of  this  re- 
lief; for  he  now  met  with  a  severe  trial  in  the  loss 
of  his  wife,  a  person  of  singular  virtue  and  merit. 
But  though  extremely  affected  by  this  affliction,  he 
endured  it  with  a  constancy  and  resignation  be- 
coming his  exalted  character. 

In  the  year  1548,  the  celebrated  Beza,  accom- 
panied by  his  friend  John  Crispin,  settled  at  Ge- 
neva. Upon  his  arrival,  he  embraced  the  reforma- 
tion, and  publicly  espoused  the  person  to  whom  he 
had  long  been  attached  :  influenced  by  gratitude, 
he  soon  after  visited  his  respected  master,  Wolmar. 

He  had  no  sooner  returned  to  Geneva,  than  the 
senate  of  Bern  appointed  him  professor  of  Greek, 
in  the  academy  of  Lausanne,  where  he  composed, 
in  French  verse,  a  drama,  entitled  Abraham  sacri- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  99 

fiant^  which  procured  him  considerable  reputation. 
At  the  request  of  the  French  refugees,  he  explained 
the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  those  of  Peter ;  at 
the  same  period,  he  projected  the  edition  of  the 
New  Testament,  w  hich  he  presented  to  the  public 
in  the  year  1566. 

At  the  pressing  solicitation  of  Calvin,  Beza  un- 
dertook to  finish  the  work  of  Marot  upon  the 
Psalms,  and  to  translate  into  French  verse,  those 
which  the  poet  had  left  unfinished.  This  underta- 
king he  executed  with  success :  the  French  churches 
adopted  them  universally,  and  they  were  printed 
with  the  permission  of  the  King  of  France,  in  1561. 

The  occupations  of  this  laborious  man  were  not 
always  equally  useful  or  honourable  to  himself:  in 
1554,  he  published  a  book,  De  Hceriticis  a  Magis- 
tratu  gladio  puniendis,  in  answer  to  Faustus  Soci- 
Bus,  and  especially  to  Sebastian  Castalio,  who  had, 
in  the  year  1554,  printed  a  work,  entitled  De  Hce- 
riticis  gladio  non  puniendis.  Castalio  had,  in  this 
work,  urged  some  of  the  principal  arguments  in 
favour  of  tolerance ;  the  fate  of  Servetus  induced 
him  to  write  that  work,  to  which  Christian  Charity 
affixed  her  seal.  Beza's  apology  for  the  council 
of  Geneva,  in  the  affair  of  Servetus,  was  strictly  in 
unison  with  the  spirit  which  predominated  through- 
out Europe :  Let  us,  however,  congratulate  our- 
selves upon  being  born  in  an  age  in  which  intoler- 
ance is  become  revolting,  and  its  apology  a  mark 
of  infamy. 

Beza  was  employed,  in  the  year  1558,  with  Fa- 


100  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

rel  and  Jean  Bude,  to  solicit  the  protestant  princes 
of  Germany  to  use  their  intercession  with  the  King 
of  France,  in  behalf  of  those  Frenchmen  who  had 
embraced  the  reformation,  and  who  were  at  that 
time  cruelly  persecuted.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  the  Genevese  theologian  enjoyed  the  satis- 
faction of  meeting  at  Francfort,  the  pious,  the 
amiable  Melancthon. 

On  his  return,  Calvin  persuaded  Beza  to  apply 
for  his  release  to  the  senate  of  Bern,  who  reluc- 
tantly complied  with  his  request.  Beza  imme- 
diately repaired  to  Geneva,  in  order  to  cultivate 
the  society  of  his  friend,  whose  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence he  closely  copied.  With  a  view  to  attach  so 
useful  a  person  to  the  republic,  the  council  pre- 
sented him  with  his  freedom,  in  the  month  of  April, 
1559.  In  the  month  of  May,  he  was  admitted  one 
of  the  pastors ;  and  in  June,  appointed  professor  of 
theology,  and  principal  of  the  academy  which  had 
been  recently  founded. 

Held  in  the  highest  consideration  throughout 
Europe,  some  French  noblemen  endeavoured  to 
attract  him  to  the  court  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 
with  a  view  to  his  disseminating  the  principles  of 
the  reformation  there :  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and 
the  King  of  Navarre  himself,  applied  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  Geneva  to  spare  him.  He  departed,  and  was 
received  with  respect  by  those  exalted  characters, 
who,  while  they  honoured  religion,  reflected  the 
highest  honour  upon  themselves  ;  and  who  believed 
they  were  contributing  most  eftectually  to  the  hap- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  101 

piness  of  the  people,  by  diffusing  among  them  that 
truth,  the  value  of  which  tliey  had  themselves  ex- 
perienced. 

From  some  of  Beza's  letters  to  Calvin,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  met  with  a  very  flattering  reception 
from  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  the  Prince  of  Con- 
de  ;  he  observes  also,  that  Catharine  talked  to  him 
with  interest  about  Calvin,  his  afflictions,  and  his 
works.  Beza  displayed  a  noble  courage  in  inform- 
ing that  princess  of  the  cruelties  exercised  against 
the  protestants ;  he  had  even  a  conversation  at  St. 
Germains,  on  the  23d  of  August,  with  the  Cardinal 
de  Lorraine,  in  the  queen's  apartment,  which  ap- 
peared to  justify  the  warmest  hopes  of  an  amicable 
re-union;  they  were,  however,  lamentably  disap- 
pointed at  the  conference  of  Poissy,  which  was 
opened  on  the  4th  of  September,  by  a  French  dis- 
course pronounced  by  Beza,  and  which  was  uni- 
versally admired. 

Endowed  eminently  with  a  public  spirit,  and 
supplied  with  that  persevering  energy  which  sur- 
mounts all  obstacles,  the  valuable  life  of  Beza 
ranked  high  among  his  contemporaries  as  a  public 
blessing;  and  secured  for  him  an  impenshable 
monument  in  the  gratitude  of  posterity.  At  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-six,  he  terminated  with  se- 
renity and  confidence,  a  life  of  piety  and  of  faith, 
and  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.* 


*  The  testimony  of  a  Catholic  Historian  to  the  talents 
of  Beza,  is  too  important  to  be  omitted.    "  It  cannot  be 
9* 


102  MEMOIRS    OF    THL 

The  churches  of  Saxony,  not  being  united  res- 
pecting the  nature  and  use  of  indifferent  tilings, 
consulted  Calvin,  who  frankly  gave  his  opinion 
on  the  subject ;  and  as  Melancthon  was  accused 
(though  unjustly)  of  too  much  indifference  on  this 
subject,  he  wrote  to  him  respecting  it. 

While  God  was  on  the  one  hand  chastising  the 
German  churches  with  the  scourge  of  discord,  he 
manifested  his  compassion  to  the  churches  of  Swit- 
zerland ;  for  Calvin  and  Farel  having  made  a  visit 
to  Zurich,  composed  all  the  differences  which  had 
arisen  among  them  on  the  subject  of  the  Sacra- 
ments. Articles  were  agreed  upon  by  the  consent 
of  the  churches  of  Switzerland,  and  those  of  the 
Grisons;  and  this  agreement  united  the  church  of 
Zurich  and  that  of  Geneva  in  the  closest  bonds. 

About  this  time  Calvin  wrote  two  letters,  replete 
with  profound  erudition,  to  Loelius  Socinus  ;  who 
died  at  Zurich,  after  a  long  residence  there.* 


denied  but  Beza  was  a  man  of  fine  parts  :  he  was  a  ready, 
subtil,  pleasant  and  polite  man ;  he  knew  the  world ; 
spake  with  abundance  of  readiness  ;  and  had  a  great 
memory,  and  a  good  deal  of  learning." — Du  Pin. 

*  "  Loelius  Socinus  was  born  at  Sienna,  in  1525,  and 
designed  by  his  father  for  the  profession  of  the  law ;  but 
having  embraced  the  principles  of  the  reformation,  he 
deemed  it  expedient  to  quit  Italy  in  1547.  After  passing 
through  several  countries,  he  settled  at  Zurich,  where  he 
was  suspected  of  Arianism,  and  received  a  remonstrance 
from  Calvin  on  the  subject.  Socinus  profited  by  the  hint, 
but  more  by  the  fate  of  Servetus,  and  retired  to  Poland; 
from  thence  he  went  to  Venice,  and  afterwards  returned 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  103 

The  year  1550  was  remarkable  for  the  tran- 
quillity which  the  churches  enjoyed,  and  the  re- 
gulations which  were  made  at  Geneva.  For  the 
Consistory  came  to  a  resolution,  that  the  minis- 
ters should  not  confine  their  instructions  to  public 
preacliing,  but  that  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year, 
they  should  visit  private  families,  accompanied  by 
an  elder,  to  explain  the  Christian  doctrines,  and 
induce  individuals  to  give  an  account  of  their  faidi. 
These  private  visits  were  so  useful  to  the  church, 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  calculate  the  fruit  which  they 
produced. 

The  Consistory  gave  directions  also,  that  the 
celebration  of  the  birth  of  Christ  should  be  de- 
ferred until  a  few  days  after  Christmas;  and  that 
no  days  should  be  observed  but  Sunday.  And 
because  these  changes  offended  many  persons, 
Calvin  wrote  a  piece  on  the  subject,  which  he  ad- 
dressed to  his  old  and  faithful  friend,  Lauren  de 
Normandie. 

The  following  year  was  not  so  happy  as  the 
two  preceding ;  for,  besides  the  death  of  Bucer, 
and  that  of  Jacques  Vadian,  Consul  of  St.  Gal, 
persons    of  singular   virtue    and  profound   erudi- 


te Zurich,  where  he  died  in  1562.  He  was  the  author  of 
the  sect  of  Socinians,  having  gathered  many  followers 
who  embraced  his  opinions,  which  were,  that  Christ  was 
cnly  a  man,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  nothing  more  than  an 
attribute,  and  that  the  doctrines  of  original  sin,  atonement, 
and  divine  grace,  have  no  foundation  in  scripture." — 
Bayle^ 


104  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

tion,  which  deeply  afflicted  Calvin  and  the  whole 
church;  the  faction  of  the  seditious,  which  had 
been  long  silent,  revived  suddenly,  and  occasioned 
inconceivable  evils  and  disorders;  for  they  not 
only  asserted,  that,  the  right  of  citizenship  ought 
not  to  be  bestowed  upon  strangers,  who  took  re- 
fuge in  Geneva ;  but,  in  order  to  affront  Calvin, 
having  met  him  in  the  street  as  he  was  returning 
from  preaching,  they  forced  him  into  the  middle 
of  the  road,  and  attempted  to  throw  Raimond,  his 
colleague,  over  the  bridge  of  the  Rhone.  They 
afterwards  excited  a  tumult  at  the  church  of  St. 
Gervais,  because  the  minister  (following  a  rule 
which  had  been  made  on  sufficient  grounds)  had 
refused  to  give  the  name  of  Baltazar  to  a  child 
whom  they  had  brought  for  baptism. 

Calvin,  not  being  able  to  remedy  these  evils, 
bore  them  with  Christian  resignation  and  invinci- 
ble patience. 

But  farther  troubles  awaited  Geneva;  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  which  was  a  man,  named  Hie- 
rome  Bolzec,  who,  having  quitted  the  habit,  re- 
tained the  spirit  and  the  incHnations  of  a  monk. 
This  man,  after  having  affronted  the  Duchesse  de 
Ferrare,  was  banished  from  her  court;  and  ha- 
ving taken  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine,  re- 
tired to  Geneva.  But,  not  succeeding  in  the  pro- 
fession which  he  had  embraced,  he  aspired  to  the 
reputation  of  a  celebrated  theologian.  With  this 
view  he  corrupted  the  doctrine  of  predestination, 
by  a  false  and  absurd  dogma,  which  he  was  bold 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  105 

enough  to  maintain  in  the  public  congregation. 
Calvin  endeavoured,  at  first,  with  all  possible  mild- 
ness, to  shew  him  his  mistakes,  and,  by  private 
conversation,  to  recover  him  from  his  errors. 

On  the  15th  of  August,  Bolzec  publicly  assert- 
ed his  sentiments  in  reply  to  a  sermon  which  had 
been  preached  on  the  subject  of  predestination. 
His  confidence  was  increased,  by  supposing  Cal- 
vin to  be  absent,  as  he  did  not  see  him  in  his  usual 
place;  for  as  the  service  was  commenced  when  he 
arrived,  he  remained  amongst  the  crowd.  No 
sooner  had  Bolzec  concluded  his  discourse,  than 
Calvin  arose ;  and  though  he  spoke  without  pre- 
meditation, he  excited  the  esteem  and  admiration 
of  all  who  heard  him ;  for  he  alleged  so  many 
passages  of  scripture,  and  so  many  testimonies 
from  St.  Austin ;  refuted  him  by  so  many  unan- 
swerable reasons,  and  convicted  him  with  so  much 
force  and  evidence,  that  notwithstanding  the  ef- 
frontery of  this  unfrocked  monk,  he  was  covered 
with  confusion.  A  magistrate  present  ordered  him 
to  be  sent  to  prison,  and  he  was  afterwards  brought 
to  trial.  Jacques  de  Bourgogne  interceded  for 
him.  Bolzec  appealed  to  the  judgment  of  the 
neighbouring  churches ;  he  was  afterwards  ordered 
to  be  set  at  liberty  upon  finding  security;  but  not 
procuring  any,  he  remained  in  prison,  and  was 
ftnally  banished  on  the  18th  of  December. 

Bolzec  retired  to  a  neighbouring  town,  where 
he  caused  great  disturbances  ;  and  having  been 
twice  driven  from  the  canton  of  Bern,  he  repaired 


106  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

to  France,  and  there  used  all  his  efforts  to  obtain 
the  charge  of  the  ministry,  expressing  a  sincere 
repentance,  and  an  anxious  desire  to  be  reconciled 
with  the  church  of  Geneva.  But  persecution  being 
again  revived  in  France,  he  resumed  the  study  of 
medicine,  and  renouncing  the  protestant  religion, 
became  a  catholic. 

The  ministers  of  Geneva,  in  a  public  assembly, 
having  illustrated  and  established  the  doctrine  of 
predestmation,  approved  of  the  work  which  Calvin 
had  written  on  the  subject.  But  though  the  min- 
isters of  the  principal  diurches  unitedly  inculcated 
the  doctrine,  there  were  not  wanting  some  in  the 
canton  of  Bern,  who  said  that  Calvin  made  God 
the  author  of  sin,  notwithstanding  this  impious 
sentiment  had  been  clearly  refuted  by  Calvin,  in 
a  book  which  he  had  written  expressly  against  the 
libertines. 

Castalio  was  at  this  time  teaching  Pelagianism 
at  Basil,  though  he  attempted  to  disguise  his  ob- 
ject under  the  most  specious  appearances.  This 
controversy  continued  several  years,  in  the  course 
of  which  the  hermit,  already  mentioned,  opposed 
Calvin.  Unable  to  procure  an  appointment  to  the 
ministerial  office,  he  had  embraced  the  profession 
of  the  law,  and  was  become  the  advocate  of  the 
seditious.  Finding  himself  supported  by  the  pro- 
fligate, he  requested  a  public  dispute  with  Calvin 
before  the  council,  where  the  subject  was  debated 
with  considerable  warmth.  But  as  Calvin  rested 
his  sentiments  upon  the  authority  of  reason  and  of 


LIFE    OF    CALVIX.  107 

scripture,  and  his  adversary  was  armed  with  im- 
pudence alone,  the  issue  of  the  dispute  was  emi- 
nently favourable  to  our  reformer:  the  truth  tri- 
umphed over  error,  and  the  writings  of  Calvin 
were  recognized  as  orthodox  by  the  suffrages  of 
those  who  had  condemned  him. 

Retiring  from  the  sanguinary  measures  of  Queen 
Mary,  John  Knox,  the  Elijah  of  the  North,  as  he 
has  been  justly  called,  repaired  to  Geneva.    "  The 
celebrated  Calvin,  who  was  then  in  the  zenith  of 
his  reputation  and  usefulness,  had  completed  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment  of  that  city ;  and,  ha- 
ving   surmounted  the    opposition  raised  by  those 
who  envied  his  authority,  or  disliked  his  system  of 
doctrine  and  discipline,  was  securely  seated  in  the 
affections  of  the  citizens.     His  writings  were  al- 
ready translated  into  the  different  languages  of  Eu- 
rope ;    and  Geneva  was  thronged   with  strangers 
from  Germany,    France,  Poland,    Hungary,    and 
even  from  Spain  and  Italy,  who  came  to  consult 
him  about  the  advancement  of  the  Reformation,  or 
to   find   shelter    from    the   persecutions   to    which 
they  were  exposed  in  their  native  countries.     Cal- 
vin was  respected  by  none  more  than  by  the  Pro- 
testants of  England;    and  at  the  desire  of  Arch- 
bishop Cranmer,  he  had  imparted  to  the  Protector 
Somerset,  and  to  Edward  VI.  his  advice  as  to  the 
best  method  of  advancing  the  Reformation  in  that 
kingdom.    Knox  was  affectionately  received  by  him 
as  a  refugee  from  England ;  and  an  intimate  friend- 
ship was  soon  formed  between  them,  which  sub- 


108  MEMOIRS    OF    TH£ 

sisted  until  die  death  of  Calvin  in  1564.  Tlioy 
were  nearly  of  the  same  age;  and  there  was  a 
striking-  similarity  in  tlieir  sentiments  and  in  the 
more  prominent  features  of  their  character.  The 
Genevan  Reformer  was  highly  pleased  with  the 
piety  and  talents  of  Knox;  who,  in  his  turn,  enter- 
tained a  greater  esteem  and  deference  for  Calvin 
than  for  any  other  of  the  Reformers.''* 

Shortly  after  the  ascension  of  Elizabeth  to  the 
throne,  Knox  returned  to  England,  where  he  was 
not  unmindful  of  his  countrymen ;  he  had  the  ad- 
dress to  fix  the  Scots  reformation  upon  a  solid  ba- 
sis, by  means  of  the  treaty  of  Leith,  concluded  in 
the  month  of  July  1560.  He  even  succeeded  in 
establishing  an  ecclesiastical  discipline,  similar  to 
that  which  prevailed  in  Geneva ;  and  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  reformed  religion  throughout  the 
district  of  Edinburgh  was  committed  to  his  care. 

This  eminent  Scotsman  died  at  Edinburgh  in 
1572,  and  was  interred  with  great  ceremony.  The 
Earl  of  Morton,  who  attended  his  funeral,  pro- 
nounced the  following  eulogium  upon  him : — 
There  lies  Ht  who  never  feared. the  fitee  of  man. 

"  Knox  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  Luther 
in  personal  intrepidity,  and  in  popular  eloquence. 
He  approached  nearest  to  Calvin  in  his  religious 
sentiments,  in  the  severity  of  his  manners,  and  in 
a  certain  impressive  air  of  melancholy  which  per- 

*  Life  of  John  Knox.  By  Thomas  M-Crie,  D.  D. 
p.  261. 


LIFL    OF    CALVLN.  109 

^  aded  his  character.  And  he  resembled  Zuin^lius 
ill  Ijis  ardent  attachment  to  the  principles  of  civil 
liberty,  and  in  cornbininG"  his  exertions  for  the  re- 
formation of  the  church  with  uniform  endeavours 
to  improve  the  political  state  of  the  people.  Not 
that  I  would  place  our  reformer  on  a  level  with 
this  illustrious  triumvirate.  There  is  a  splendour 
\\hich  surrounds  the  great  German  Reformer, 
partly  arisint^  from  the  intrinsic  heroism  of  his 
character,  and  partly  reflected  from  the  interest- 
ing situation  in  which  his  long  and  doubtful  strug- 
gle with  the  court  of  Rome  placed  him  in  the  eyes 
of  Europe,  which  removes  him  at  a  distance  from 
all  who  started  in  the  same  glorious  career.  The 
Genevan  Reformer  surpassed  Knox  in  the  extent 
of  his  theological  learning,  and  in  the  unrivalled 
solidity  and  clearness  of  his  judgment.  And  the 
Reformer  of  Switzerland,  though  inferior  to  him 
in  masculine  elocution,  and  in  daring  courage, 
excelled  him  in  self-command,  in  prudence,  and 
in  that  species  of  eloquence  which  steals  into  the 
heart,  which  persuades  without  irritating,  and  go- 
verns without  assuming  the  tone  of  authority. 

"  But,  although  '  he  attained  not  to  tlie  first 
three,'  I  know  not,  among  all  the  eminent  men 
who  appeared  at  that  period,  any  name  which  is 
so  well  entitled  to  be  placed  next  to  theirs  as  that 
of  Knox,  whether  we  consider  the  talents  with 
which  he  was  endowed,  or  the  important  services 
which  he  performed." — L.  of  Knox,  p.  161. 


10 


110  MEMOIRS    OF   THE 


CHAP.  III. 

An  Examination  of  the  Reformer's   Conduct  in  the 
affair  of  Servetus. 

WE  are  now  arrived  at  a  most  delicate  part  of 
the  history  of  this  illustrious  reformer  ;  the  part 
which  he  confessedly  took  in  the  punishment  of 
Servetus. 

The  history  of  Servetus,  so  often  referred  to, 
and  so  little  understood,  merits  the  minute  atten- 
tion of  all  who  are  sufficiently  impartial  to  weigh 
the  opposing  interests  and  circumstances  which 
mark  this  tragical  transaction.  The  blemishes, 
real  or  pretended,  of  the  reformer,  having  been 
maliciously  employed  to  discredit  the  Reformation 
itself,  it  becomes  of  no  small  importance  to  eluci- 
date this  point  of  history,  and  to  clear  Calvin 
from  the  injurious  imputations  which  have  been 
falsely  thrown  upon  him. 

It  has  been  confidently  pretended,  and  boldly 
asserted,  that  Calvin  had,  through  life,  nourished 
an  implacable  hatred  against  Servetus,  and  that 
the  Genevese  theologian  had  employed  all  his  ef- 
forts to  satiate  it  in  the  blood  of  the  ,';inhappy  Spa- 
niard; that  he  denounced  him  to  the  magistrates 
of  Vienne,  and  occasioned  him  to  be  arrested  on 
the  day  after  his  arrival  at  Geneva.  Things  ad- 
vanced with  an  air  of  confidence  are  readily  be- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  Ill 

lieved,  and  it  is  scarcely  suspected  that  they  may 
be  false.  Bolzec,  however,  the  mortal  enemy  of 
Calvin,  who  wrote  the  life  of  that  illustrious  man 
merely  to  blast  his  memory,  and  who  was  contem- 
porary with  the  facts  which  he  relates ;  and  Maim- 
bourg,  equally  known  by  his  partialities  and  his 
falsehoods,  have  never  dared  to  advance  those 
things  which  modern  historians  have  not  been 
ashamed  to  risk.  Bolzec  says,  that  Servetus  quit- 
ted Lyons  to  establish  himself  at  Charlieu,  be- 
cause ''  his  pride,  his  insolence,  and  the  danger  of 
his  projects,  made  him  equally  feared  and  hated.'* 
He  adds,  that  "  Servetus  returned  to  Lyons ;  that 
he  entered  into  a  correspondence  with  Calvin ; 
that  he  communicated  to  him  his  ideas ;  that  Calvin 
combated  them  with  force,  and  that  Servetus  per- 
sisted in  them  with  obstinacy;  that  he  sent  him 
his  work  entitled  Restitutio  Christianismi,  which 
he  printed  at  that  time;  and  that  Calvin,  indig- 
nant, declined  all  aquaintance  with  him."* 

It  is  evident  that  Calvin  did  not  betray  the  se- 


*  "  Restitutio  Christianismi,  hoc  est  totius  ecclesiae  apos- 
tolicse  ad  sua  limina  vocatio :  in  integrum  restituta  cogni- 
tione  Dei,  fidei  Christianae,  justificationis  nostrse,  Regene- 
rationis,  Baptismi,  et  Coenae  Domini  manducationis ;  res- 
tituto  denique  nobis  regno  coelesti,  Babylonis  impia  cap- 
tivitate  soluto,  et  anti-christo  cum  suis  penitus  destructo." 
— This  book  is  extremely  scarce;  all  the  copies  were 
burned  at  Vienne  and  Frankfort :  it  has  been  long  doubted 
whether  there  were  any  remaining ;  but  it  appears  cer- 
tain that  Doctor  Mead  possessed  a  copy,  which  found  its 
way  into  the  library  of  the  Duke  de  la  Valiere. 


112  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

cret  of  Servetus,  and  that  he  did  not  occasion  hi* 
arrest  at  Vienne,  since  he  wrote  to  Viret  and  to 
Farel,  that,  if  that  heretic  came  to  Geneva,  he 
ivould  take  care  that  he  should  he  capitally  punished. 

The  ideas  of  Calvin  included  in  this  revolting 
sentence,  were  the  ideas  of  all  persons  and  of  all 
sects :  they  constituted  the  spirit  of  the  laws,  and 
of  the  public  administration  of  the  times. 

Disputes  are  frequently  the  source  of  intole- 
rance ;  we  easily  learn  to  hate  those  who  try  to 
convince  us  that  we  are  wrong:  this  was  not, 
how^ever,  the  case  with  Calvin;  he  bore  with  Ser- 
vetus as  long  as  there  was  any  hope  of  reclaim- 
ing him.  Servetus  began  with  employing  injuri- 
ous expressions  of  the  grossest  kind.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  had  rendered  himself  odious  to  all  who 
knew  him,  and  that  the  ideas  of  most  persons 
agreed  with  those  of  Calvin  on  the  punishment 
which  he  merited.  It  is  evident,  from  the  letters 
of  Farel  and  of  Viret,  that  they  did  not  blame  the 
conduct  of  Calvin  in  this  affair.  Bucer  was  not 
ashamed  to  write  that  "  Servetus  deserved  some- 
thing worse  than  death."  The  excellent,  the  gen- 
tle Melancthon,  approved  the  punishment  of  Ser- 
vetus. Writing  to  Calvin,  he  remarks:  "  In  my 
opinion,  your  magistrates  have  acted  justly,  in 
putting  to  death  a  blasphemer,  convicted  by  due 
process  of  law."  The  opinion  of  Melancthon  on 
this  subject  is  farther  expressed  in  a  letter  to  Bul- 
linger : — "  I  have  read  your  statement  respecting 
the  blasphemy  of  Servetus,  and  praise  your  piety 


LIFE    OF   CALVIN.  113 

and  judgment;  and  am  persuaded  that  the  Coun- 
cil of  Geneva  has  done  right  in  putting  to  death 
this  obstinate  man,  who  would  never  have  ceased 
his  blasphemies.  I  am  astonished  that  any  one 
can  be  found  to  disapprove  of  this  proceeding; 
but  I  have  transmitted  you  a  few  papers  which 
will  sufficiently  explain  our  sentiments."*  Farel 
expressly  says,  that  ''  Servetus  deserved  a  capital 
punishment."  And  Beza  defended  the  sentence. 
All  these  celebrated  men  entertained  the  same 
opinion  on  the  subject;  and  as  no  personal  hatred 
of  Servetus  can  be  imputed  to  them,  it  is  at  least 
as  unjust  to  accuse  Calvin  of  it. 

But  Calvin,  it  is  said,  abused  the  confidence  of 
Servetus;  he  sent  to  Vienne  the  letters  which  he 
had  received  from  him,  to  which  he  added  his 
work  entitled  Restitutio  Christinnismi,  of  which 
Servetus  had  made  him  a  present.  This  accusa- 
tion is  mysterious  :  is  it  to  be  believed  that  Cal- 
vin, whose  name  was  execrated  in  all  catholic 
countries,  could  expect  from  their  magistrates  any 
attentions  to  his  complaints,  or  any  regard  to  his 
letters  ?^ 

The  extreme  improbability  of  the  correspon- 
dence here  alluded  to,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
character  of  the  individual  to  whom  Calvin  is 
said  to  have  applied.  "  All  historians  agree 
in    representing  Cardinal  Tournon  to  us    as  the 


*  Life  of  Melancthon,  by  F.  A.  Cox,  A.  M.  2d  edit. 
10* 


114  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

scourge  of  heresy.  He  caused  the  severest  edicts 
to  be  published  against  the  innovators.  He  esta- 
blished at  Paris  a  fiery  court  (Chambre  Ardenie), 
which  was  properly  an  inquisition,  and  ordered  all 
the  tribunals  of  the  kingdom  to  prosecute  the  new 
errors  as  crimes  against  the  State.  The  fury  of 
his  zeal  transported  him  so  far,  that  he  caused  all 
the  heretics  to  be  burned  who  had  the  misfortune  to 
fall  into  his  hands.  Behold  the  man  they  want  to 
make  a  correspondent  of  Calvin  by  letters!  What- 
ever wickedness  they  would  load  him  with,  they 
must  suppose  him  a  perfect  blockhead  to  attempt 
such  a  correspondence  by  a  criminal  accusation 
of  his  enemy;  as  it  would  appear  by  the  loud  fits 
of  laughter  they  make  the  cardinal  fall  into,  upon 
receiving  this  letter. 

"  But,  supposing  that  this  reformer  had  been 
capable  of  such  extravagant  folly,  how  can  we 
imagine  that  the  cardinal,  '  this  scourge  of  heresy,' 
would  have  satisfied  himself  with  laughing  at  this 
affair  f  That  he  made  himself  merry  with  the  ac- 
cuser, needs  not  surprise  us;  but  that  he  neglected 
to  prosecute  such  a  heretic  as  Servetus,  we  cannot 
so  easily  be  persuaded  of.  Thus  Calvin  himself 
gives  no  other  reason  in  answer  to  the  calumny 
we  are  refuting,  as  we  shall  see  by  his  own  words, 
that  the  calumny  came  originally  from  Servetus; 
and  that  Bolzec  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  but 
from  uncertain  reports.  '  I  have  no  occasion,' 
says  Calvin,  *  to  insist  longer  to  answer  such  a 
frivolous  calumny,  which  falls  to  the  ground,  when 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  115 

I  shall  have  said,  m  one  word,  that  there  is  nothing 
in  it.  It  is  four  years  since  Servetus  forged  this 
fable  upon  me,  and  made  the  report  travel  from 
Venice  to  Padua,  where  they  made  use  of  it  ac- 
cording to  their  fancy;  I  don't  dispute,  however, 
if  it  was  by  deHberate  malice  he  had  forged  such 
lies  to  bring  the  hatred  of  many  upon  me,  or 
whether  fear  made  him  suspicious :  only  I  demand 
how  it  could  happen,  that  since  the  time  I  disco- 
vered him,  he  has  lived  three  years  in  the  sight 
of  his  enemies,  without  being  disquieted,  or  speak- 
ing one  word  about  it  to  him;  certainly  either 
those  who  complain  of  me  must  confess,  that  it  has 
been  falsely  invented,  or  that  their  martyr,  Serve- 
tus, has  had  more  favour  from  the  papists  than  I; 
if  this  had  been  objected  to  me  with  justice,  and 
that  I  had  published  it  in  order  to  have  him  pu- 
nished by  an}'  person  whatsoever,  I  would  not  have 
denied  it,  and  1  don't  think  it  could  have  turned  to 
my  dishonour.'  This  I  am  confident  is  sufficient  to 
satisfy  reasonable  men  :  above  all,  if  we  add  to  it, 
what  Calvin  had  said  immediately  before  the  pas- 
sage I  have  cited : — '  A  report  flies  about  that  I 
had  endeavoured  to  have  had  Servetus  apprehended 
in  a  popish  country,  viz.  at  Vienne  ;  upon  which 
a  great  many  say,  that  I  have  not  behaved  discreetly 
in  exposing  him  to  the  mortal  enemies  of  the  faith, 
as  if  I  had  thrown  him  in  the  jaws  of  w  olves ;  but 
I  pray  you,  from  whence  so  suddenly  this  private 
dealing  with  the  Pope's  satellites  ?  It  is  very  credi- 
ble, indeed,  that  we  should  correspond  together  by 


116  MEMOIR^    OF    THE 

letters,  and  that  those  who  agree  with  me,  as  well 
as  Belial  agrees  with  Jesus  Christ,  should  enter 
into  a  plot  with  such  a  mortal  enemy,  as  with  their 
own  companion.'" 

But,  supposing  Calvin  could  have  been  capable 
of  such  an  absurdity,  is  it  to  be  imagined  that  he 
could  have  kept  silence  during  seven  years ;  that 
he  would  not  have  persecuted  him  sooner ;  that  he 
would  not  have  sent  to  the  places  where  Servetus 
resided  the  letters  which  he  had  received,  and  the 
work  which  he  possessed  ?  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  Calvin  had  corresponded  with  Servetus  seven 
years ;  and  the  famous  letter  of  Calvin,  which 
Uttembogaert  saw  in  the  library  of  the  King  of 
France,  shews  that  Calvin  was  then  perfectly  ac- 
quainted with  his  character,  and  that  he  had  seen 
his  famous  work : — '•  Servetus  lately  wrote  to  me, 
and  accompanied  his  letter  with  a  large  volume  of 
his  extravagant  opinions,  with  a  hectoring  boast, 
that  I  should  see  extraordinary  and  unheard-of 
things,  if  I  were  willing  he  would  come  hither; 
but  I  was  unwilling  to  give  my  promise  ;  for  if  he 
should  come,  I  would  use  my  authority  in  such  a 
manner  as  not  to  suffer  him  to  depart  alive."* 
This  letter  is  dated  in  February  1546  ;  Calvin  evi- 

*  "  Servetus  nuper  ad  me  scripsit,  et  litteris  adjunxit 
magnum  volumen  suorum  deliriorum  cum  thrasonica  jac- 
tantia  me  stupenda  ac  inaudita  visurum  :  si  mihi  placeat, 
hue  se  venturum  recipit ;  sed  nolo  fidem  meam  inter- 
ponere ;  nam  si  venerit,  modd  valeat  mea  autoritas,  vivuro 
cxire  nunquam  patiar." 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  117 

dently  refers  to  the  work  entitled  Restitutio  Chris- 
tianismi :  he  plainly  discovers  his  judgment  of  it. 
and  of  the  punishment  which  he  thought  its  author 
deserved ;  but  it  is  equally  evident  that  he  was 
very  far  from  engaging  him  to  come  to  Geneva, 
and  that  he  had  forewarned  him  of  what  he  might 
expect  to  meet  with,  if  he  should  have  the  temerity 
to  appear  in  that  city.  It  is,  therefore,  evident, 
that  if  Calvin  endeavoured  to  keep  Servetus  from 
Geneva  to  induce  him  to  avoid  the  punishment 
with  which  he  threatened  him,  he  could  not  possi- 
bly think  of  inflicting  it  upon  him  elsewhere, 
which  would  have  been  attended  with  considerable 
difficulty,  if  not  absolutely  impossible. 

But  what  end  could  Calvin's  letters  to  the  ma- 
gistrates of  Vienne  have  answered  .''  Calvin  was 
assured  that  Servetus  was  known  to  be  the  author 
of  the  work  entitled  Restitutio  Christianismi,  since 
it  bore  the  name  of  Villanovanus .  Servetus  was 
well  known  by  this  name :  it  was,  therefore,  use- 
less for  Calvin  to  send  them  intelligence  which  was 
public  :  neither  was  it  more  necessary  for  him  to 
inform  them  what  that  book  contained ;  a  single 
perusal  evinced  it.  It  would  have  been  absurd  in 
Calvin  to  send  them  a  copy  of  the  work,  since  it 
had  been  printed  in  France,  under  their  own  eyes  ; 
so  that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  possibility  of 
the  conduct  of  Calvin  in  this  affair  being  what  his 
enemies  have  represented  it. 

Farther  ;  the  sentence  pronounced  at  Vienne 
acrainst  Servetus,  takes  no  notice  of  any  interpo- 


118  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

sition  on  the  part  of  Calvin:  it  condemns  Servetus 
for  his  printed  work,  on  the  report  of  the  Doctors 
in  Theology  consulted  on  the  occasion ;  on  the 
ground  of  the  errors  contained  in  that  work ;  and, 
finally,  on  the  confessions  of  that  unhappy  man. 
It  is  true  that  the  magistrates  of  Vienne,  having 
learned  that  Servetus  corresponded  with  Calvin, 
demanded  his  letters  with  all  writings  relating  to 
him  ;  but  the  demand  was  made  to  the  Council  of 
Geneva,  who  complied  with  their  request.  From 
these  circumstances  it  appears  that  Calvin  had  no 
share  in  sending  the  letters  of  Servetus,  and  that 
they  had  no  influence  upon  the  decision  of  Vienne, 
as  no  mention  is  made  of  them. 

Happily,  those  persons  who  take  pleasure  in  ca- 
lumniating others,  seldom  consider  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  facts  which  they  wish  to  impose, 
but  discover  the  imposture  by  the  impossibility  of 
harmonizing  what  they  invent,  with  what  is  real. 
Thus  the  report  that  Calvin,  instructed  of  the  es- 
cape of  Servetus  from  the  prison  of  Vienne,  caused 
him  to  be  arrested  two  or  three  days  after  his  arri- 
val at  Geneva,  stands  self-corrected  ;  as  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  left  Vienne  before  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  which  condemned  him  to  be  burnt  in  effigy 
on  the  17th  of  June:  supposing  him  to  have  been 
a  fortnight  in  reaching  Geneva,  he  must  have  ar- 
rived there  in  the  beginning  of  July,  at  the  latest : 
he  was  not,  however,  arrested  until  the  13th  of  Au- 
gust. It  is  absurd  to  say  that  he  concealed  him- 
self in  other  places  j  for  to  what  other  places  could 


^        LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  119 

he  have  gone  f  His  safety  required  him  to  quit 
those  in  which  the  Romish  religion  was  estabUshed, 
lest  the  clamours  of  Vienne  should  have  reached 
them ;  and  Geneva  was  the  first  place  in  which  he 
could  hope  for  an  asylum.  It  is  therefore  evident 
that  Servetus,  far  from  having  been  arrested  upon 
his  arrival  at  Geneva,  must  have  resided  there  at 
least  six  weeks. 

The  laws  of  Geneva  requiring  that  the  accuser 
and  the  accused  should  enter  the  prison  together,-*^ 
Calvin  directed  the  process  to  be  made  by  Nicolas 
de  la  Fontaine,  his  secretary,  and  a  student  in  the- 
ology. Calvin  confesses  that  this  was  done  with 
his  knowledge.  De  la  Fontaine  made  himself  a 
prisoner,  requiring  the  detention  of  Servetus,  and 
produced  forty  articles  upon  which  he  demanded 
that  Servetus  should  be  examined.  Servetus  was 
shortly  afterwards  found  guilt}'.  The  lieutenant- 
criminal  undertook  the  process  at  the  instance  of 
the  procureur-general,  and  the  student  was  liber- 
ated. 

The  principal  accusations  exhibited  against  Ser- 
vetus were,  First,  his  having  asserted  in  his  Ftole- 
mee,  that  the  Bible  celebrated  improperly  the  fer- 
tility of  the  land  of  Canaan,  whilst  it  was  unfruit- 
ful and  barren.  Secondly,  his  having  called  one 
God  in  three  persons  a  Cerberus,  a  three-headed 
monster.  Thirdly,  his  having  taught  that  God  was 
all,  and  that  all  was  God.  Servetus  did  not  deny 
the  truth  of  the  principal  accusations,  but  whilst 
in  prison  called  the  Trinity  a  Cerberus,  a  three- 


120  MEMOIRS    or    THE 

headed  monster;  he  also  grossly  insulted  Cal- 
vin, and  was  so  fearful  that  death  would  be  the 
punishment  of  heresy  at  Geneva,  as  well  as  at 
other  places,  that  he  presented  a  petition  on  the 
22d  of  August,  in  which  he  defended  the  cause  of 
ignorance,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  toleration : 
the  procureur-general  replied  to  him  in  about  eight 
days,  and  no  doubt  did  it  very  ill.  Servetus  was 
condemned  upon  extracts  from  his  books,  De  Tri- 
Wnitatis  Erroribus,  and  In  PtoIemcBiim  Commentaii- 
us  ;  from  the  edition  of  the  Bible  which  he  had  pub- 
lished in  1552  ;  from  his  book  Restitutio  Christian- 
ismi;  and  from  a  letter  which  he  had  written  to 
Abel  Paupin,  a  minister  of  Geneva.^ 


*  A  copy  of  the  sentence  pronounced  against  Servetus 
will  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader.  "  We  Syndics, 
judges  of  all  criminal  causes  in  this  city,  having  witnessed 
the  process  made  and  instituted  against  you,  on  the  part 
of  our  lieutenant  in  the  aforesaid  causes,  instituted  against 
you,  Michel  de  A'illeneuve,  in  the  kingdom  of  Arragon,  in 
Spain,  in  which  your  voluntary  confessions  in  our  hands, 
made  and  often  reiterated,  and  the  books  before  us  pro- 
duced, plainly  shew  that  you,  Servetus,  have  published 
false  and  heretical  doctrines ;  and  also  despising  all  re- 
monstrances and  corrections,  have,  with  a  perverse  incli- 
nation, sown  and  divulged  them  in  a  book  published 
against  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit;  in 
sum,  against  all  the  true  foundations  of  the  Christian  Re- 
ligion, and  have  thereby  tried  to  introduce  trouble  and 
schism  into  the  Church  of  God,  by  which  many  souls 
may  have  been  ruined  and  lost,  things  horrible,  frightful, 
scandalous,  and  infectious,  and  have  not  been  ashamed  to 
set  yourself  in  array  against  the  Divine  Majesty  and  the 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  121 

The  enemies  of  Calvin  exulted  in  this  aflair, 
and,  for  once,  with  the  appearance  of  reason :  but 
their  efforts  injured  the  cause  of  Servetus ;  they 
endeavoured  to  bring  him  before  the  Council  of 
Two  Hundred,  in  which,  however,  they  did  not 
succeed. 

The  Council  of  Vienne  claimed  Servetus,  who, 
being  left  at  liberty  to  return  to  his  ancient  judges, 
preferred  the  chance  of  a  more  favourable  judg-^j 
nient  at  Geneva,  to  the  certainty  of  suffering  the 
capital  punishment  pronounced  against  him  at 
Vienne,  where  he  had  been  condemned  to  be 
burned. 


Holy  Trinity;  but  rather  have  obstinately  employed  your- 
self in  infecting  the  world  with  your  heresies,  and  stinking 
heretical  poison  ;  a  case  and  crime  of  heresy  grievous  and 
detestable,  and  deserving  of  corporal  punishment.  For 
these  and  other  just  reasons  moving  us,  and  being  desirous 
to  purge  the  church  of  God  from  such  infection,  and  to  cut 
off  from  it  so  rotten  a  member,  having  had  good  participa- 
tion of  counsel  with  our  citizens,  and  having  invoked  the 
name  of  God  that  we  may  make  a  right  judgment,  sitting 
upon  the  tribunal  of  our  predecessors,  having  God  and  the 
Holy  Scriptures  before  our  eyes,  saying  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  that 
definitive  sentence,  which  we  here  give  by  this  writing, 
you  Michael  Servetus,  are  condemned  to  be  bound  anci 
led  to  Champel,  and  there  fastened  to  a  stake  and  burned 
alive  with  your  book  written  with  your  hand,  and  printed, 
until  your  body  shall  be  reduced  to  ashes,  and  your  days 
thus  finished  as  an  example  to  others  who  might  commit 
the  same  things ;  and  we  command  you  our  lieutenant  to 
put  this  our  sentence  into  execution.  Read  by  the  seie- 
neur  syndic  D'Arlord.'' 

11 


122  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

To  the  Council  of  Geneva  justice  ought  to  be 
done  with  respect  to  this  transaction,  though  we 
may  blame  the  principles  of  its  jurisprudence : 
they  neglected  nothing  to  discover  the  truth:  they 
multiplied  their  interrogatories ;  they  employed 
all  possible  means  to  make  Servetus  retract;  and, 
as  they  experienced  the  inutility  of  these  measures, 
they  wrote  to  the  reformed  Swiss  cantons  for  their 
^dvice.  Is  it  credible?  they  were  unanimous  in 
exhorting  the  council  to  punish  the  wicked  man^ 
and  to  put  it  out  of  his  poiver  to  increase  heresy. 
If  Calvin  may  be  supposed  to  have  influenced  the 
Council  of  Geneva,  shall  he  domineer  at  his  plea- 
sure over  four  councils  of  four  different  states,  and 
all  the  persons  who  were  consulted  by  them  in 
forming  their  judgments  ?  Shall  the  fury  imputed 
to  him  render  so  many  magistrates  cruel,  whom 
he  had  never  known  f  It  must  be  confessed,  that 
the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  age  dictated  the  sen- 
tence of  Servetus  at  Geneva;  but,  it  is  not  equally 
evident  that  Calvin  was  the  author  of  that  atro- 
city, and  that  he  laboured  with  ardour  to  accom- 
plish it. 

On  the  27th  of  October,  Servetus  was  condemned 
to  be  burnt  alive ;  and  the  sentence  was  executed 
on  the  same  day. 

Some  general  observations  on  the  conduct  of 
the  Council,  and  that  of  Calvin,  may  serve  to  si- 
lence those  persons  who  are  disposed  to  fancy 
themselves  considerable,  because  they  have  calum- 
niated a  state,  and  a  great  man. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  123 

111  the  first  place,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the 
fate  of  Servetus  was  approved  by  the  majority  of 
celebrated  ecclesiastics  amongst  the  reformed  of 
those  times ;  and  that  those  who  are  not  mentioned, 
did  not  think  of  blaming  it :  it  was  also  sanctioned 
by  the  churches  of  Switzerland,  who  even  recom- 
mended it.  Let  it  be  farther  remarked,  that  Cas? 
talio,  the  avowed  enemy  of  Calvin,  was  the  only 
person  who  had  the  courage  to  espouse  the  cause 
of  Servetus,  and  of  the  heretics,  in  sl  Dissertation, 
in  which  it  is  considered,  "  By  what  right,  or  with 
what  advantage,  heretics  may  be  restrained,  or  ca- 
pitally punished."  And  let  it  be  observed,  he  was 
afraid  to  put  his  name  to  it,  though  he  resided  at 
Basil,  and  therefore  took  the  name  of  Bellius. 
From  this  circumstance  it  is  evident,  that  the  doc- 
trine which  he  so  properly  defended  was  generally 
condemned  by  the  public  tribunals,  and  that  it  ex- 
posed its  defenders  to  severe  penalties. 

It  had  long  been  the  custom  at  Geneva  to  pro- 
ceed with  violence  against  heretics:  In  the  year 
1536,  several  persons  were  deprived  of  their  free- 
dom who  did  not  embrace  the  received  doctrine: 
from  the  year  1541,  the  Consistory  possessed  the 
right  of  forcing  the  magistrates  and  the  people  to 
continue  faithful  to  the  holy  doctrine,  and  to  ob- 
serve good  morals.  In  1558,  Gentilis  escaped 
death  only  by  retraction,  though  it  was  known  to 
be  feigned ;  and  Calvin,  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote 
at  that  time,  observed,  "  Servetus,  by  a  recanta- 
tion, might  have  averted  his  punishment :  I  would 


124  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

have  it  attested  that  my  hostility  was  not  so  deadly; 
but  that  by  humility  alone,  had  he  not  been  de- 
prived of  his  senses,  he  might  have  saved  his  life  ; 
but  I  know  not  how  to  account  for  his  conduct 
without  supposing  him  to  have  been  seized  with  a 
fatal  insanity,  and  to  have  plunged  himself  head- 
long into  ruin."*  From  this  fragment  it  appears 
that  Servetus  might  have  retracted;  that  Calvin 
wished  him  to  do  it ;  that  he  was  grieved  that  the 
retraction  was  not  made :  it  is  also  evident  that  the 
Council  furnished  him  with  occasions  of  so  doing; 
that  they  descended  to  theological  conversations, 
in  which  they  endeavoured  to  instruct  him;  but  he 
persisted  in  defending  his  opinions  in  a  blasphe- 
mous manner;  so  that  if  Servetus  was  condemned, 
it  was  because  he  was  not  afraid  of  exposing 
himself  to  it,  since  he  was  acquainted  with  the  ex- 
istence of  the  laws  which  threatened  him,  and,  in- 
dependently of  those  laws,  could  not  have  b^en 
brought  to  trial;  but,  as  the  Council  could  not 
violate  them  to  absolve  him,  neither  could  they 
change  them  to  mitigate  his  punishment;  these 
laws  equally  opposed  the  desire  of  the  Council  to 
commute  the  punishment  into  banishment,  and  the 
efforts  of  Calvin  to  render  it  less  cruel. 

The    civil   and    ecclesiastical  jurisprudence    of 

*  "  Mutando  mentem  poenas  a  se  avertere  potuisset 
Servetus :  hoc  testatum  volo  me  non  ita  capitaliter  infes- 
tum  quin  licitum  fuerit  vel  sola  modestia,  nisi  mente  pri- 
vatus  foret,  vitam  redimere ;  sed  nescio  quod  dicam,  nisi 
fatali  vesania  fuisse  correplum,  et  se  precipitem  jaceret." 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  125 

the  tribunals  with  respect  to  heresy,  was  undoubt- 
edly grossly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  principles  of  equity.  But  if  we 
could  transport  ourselves  into  that  age,  and  con- 
template the  circumstances  in  which  Calvin  was 
placed,  divesting  our  minds  of  prejudice,  we  should 
no  doubt  perceive  that  the  sentence  was  that  of  the 
civil  judges,  and  that  they  strictly  followed  the 
ordinary  course  of  the  law;  that  Calvin  followed 
the  judgment  of  all  the  ecclesiastics  of  his  time^  and 
complied  with  the  sanguinary  laws  of  every  coun- 
try in  Europe  against  heretics. 

It  cannot,  however,  be  denied,  that  in  this  in- 
stance Calvin  acted  contrary  to  the  benignant  spi- 
rit of  the  gospel.  It  is  better  to  drop  a  tear  over 
the  inconsistency  of  human  nature,  and  to  bewail 
those  infirmities  which  cannot  be  justified.  He 
declares  that  he  acted  conscientiously,  and  publicly 
justified  the  act.  Cranmer  acted  the  same  part 
towards  the  poor  Anabaptists  in  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward VI.  This  doctrine  they  had  learnt  at  Rome, 
and  it  is  certain,  that,  with  a  very  few  exceptions, 
it  was  at  this  time  the  opinion  of  all  parties.*    The 

*  The  author  of  the  Memoirs  of  Literature  says,  "  If 
the  religion  of  Protestants  depended  on  the  doctrine  and 
conduct  of  the  Reformers,  he  should  take  care  how  he 
published  his  account  of  Servetus ;  but  as  the  Protestant 
Religion  is  entirely  founded  on  Holy  Scripture,  so  the  de- 
faults of  the  Reformers  ought  not  to  have  any  ill  influ- 
ence on  the  reformation.  The  doctrine  of  non-toleration, 
which  obtained  in  the  sixteenth  century,  among  some 
Protestants,  was  that  pernicious  error  which  they  had 
imbibed  in  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and,  I  believe;  I  can 
11* 


126  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

apostles  John  and  James  would  have  called  down 
fire  from  heaven;  Calvin  and  Cranmer  kindled  it 
on  earth.  This,  however,  is  the  only  fault  alleged 
against  Calvin;  but  "  Let  him  that  is  without  sin 
cast  the  first  stone." 

"  It  ought,  however,"  says  a  sensible  writer,  "  to 
be  acknowledged,  that  persecution  for  religious 
principles  was  not  at  that  time  peculiar  to  any 
party  of  Christians,  but  common  to  all,  whenever 
they  were  invested  with  civil  power.  It  was  a  de- 
testable error;  but  it  was  the  error  of  the  age. 
They  looked  upon  heresy  in  the  same  light  as  we 
look  upon  those  crimes  which  are  inimical  to  the 
peace  of  civil  society;  and,  accordingly,  proceeded 
to  punish  heretics  by  the  sword  of  the  civil  magis- 
trate. If  Socinians  did  not  persecute  their  adver- 
saries so  much  as  Trinitarians,  it  was  because  they 
were  not  equally  invested  with  the  power  of  doing  so. 
Mr.  Lindsay  acknowledges,  that  Faustus  Socinus 
himself  was  not  free  from  persecution  in  the  case  of 
Francis  David,  superintendant  of  the  Unitarian 
Churches  in  Transylvania.  David  had  disputed 
with  Socinus  on  the  invocation  of  Christ,  and  died 

say,  without  doing  any  injury  to  that  church,  that  she  is, 
in  a  great  measure,  answerable  for  the  execution  of  Ser- 
vetus.  If  the  Roman  Catholics  had  never  put  any  per- 
son to  death  for  the  sake  of  religion,  I  dare  say  that  Ser- 
vetus  had  never  been  condemned  to  die  in  any  Protestant 
city.  Let  us  remember,  that  Calvin,  and  all  ihe  magis- 
trates of  Geneva  in  the  year  1553,  were  born  and  bred 
up  in  the  Church  of  Rome :  this  is  the  best  apology  that 
can  be  made  for  them." — Biographia  Evangelica,  vol.  II. 
p.  42. 


LIFE   OF   CALVIN.  127 

in  prison  in  consequence  of  his  opinion,  and  some 
offence  taken  at  his  supposed  indiscreet  propaga- 
tion of  it  from  the  pulpit.  "  I  wish  I  could  say," 
adds  Mr.  Lindsay,  "  that  Socinus,  or  his  friend 
Blandrata,  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  prevent 
his  commitment,  or  procure  his  release  afterwards." 
The  difference  between  Socinus  and  David  was 
very  sHght.  They  both  held  Christ  to  be  a  mere 
man.  The  former,  however,  was  for  praying  to 
him ;  which  the  latter,  with  much  greater  consis- 
tency, disapproved.  Considering  this,  the  perse- 
cution to  which  Socinus  was  accessary  was  as 
great  as  that  of  Calvin ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
think,  but  that  if  David  had  differed  as  much  from 
Socinus  as  Servetus  did  from  Calvin,  and  if  the 
civil  magistrates  had  been  for  burning  him,  Soci- 
nus would  have  concurred  with  them.  To  this  it 
might  be  added,  that  the  conduct  of  Socinus  was 
marked  with  disingenuity:  in  that  he  considered 
the  opinion  of  David  in  no  very  heinous  point  of 
light;  but  was  afraid  of  increasing  the  odium  un- 
der which  he  and  his  party  already  lay,  among 
other  Christian  churches. 

It  was  the  opinion,  that  erroneous  religious  prin- 
ciples are  punishable  by  the  civil  magistrate,  that  did 
the  mischief,  whether  at  Geneva,  in  Transylvania, 
or  in  Britain ;  and  to  this,  rather  than  to  Trinita- 
rianism,  or  to  Unitarianism,  it  ought  to  be  im- 
puted.* 

*  See  Calvinistic  and  Socinan  Systems  examined  and 
compared,  by  Andrew  Fuller,  2d  edit.  p.  146. 


128  MEMOIRS    OF   THE 


CHAP.  IV. 

Calvin'' s  Intrepidity  in  refusing  the  Sacrament  to 
Bertelier — Persecution  of  Far  el — Calvin'' s  Be- 
haviour to  the  Persecuted  Protestants —  Charac- 
ter of  Gentilis  —  Reflections  on  Intolerance^^ 
Calvin  the  means  of  founding  a  College, 

BERTELIER,  a  man  of  an  abandoned  charac- 
ter, having  been  suspended  from  the  communion  of 
the  Church,  petitioned  the  Seigneurs  to  terminate 
his  suspension.  In  consequence  of  the  clamours  of 
those  who  maintained  that  the  Consistory  usurped 
the  authority  of  the  magistrates,  the  Council  grant- 
ed him  permission  to  communicate. 

Perrin  and  his  faction  pleased  themselves  with 
the  expectation  that  Calvin  would  either  disobey 
the  orders  of  the  Seigneurs,  and  thus  be  treated  as 
a  criminal  against  the  state ;  or  that  if  he  obeyed, 
the  authority  of  the  Consistory,  which  repressed 
their  disorders,  might  be  easily  overthrown  :  but 
Calvin,  having  received  notice  of  this  resolution 
two  days  before  the  administration  of  the  Supper, 
discovered  the  most  intrepid  courage  on  the  Sun- 
day following ;  when,  after  having  preached  with 
energy  against  those  who  despised  the  sacred  mys- 
teries, *'I  will,"  declared  he,  "  imitate  the  example 
of  St.  Chrysostom ;  and,  like  him,  rather  expose 
myself  to  death,  than  give  holy  things  to  the  pro- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  129 

i'ane,  who  have  been  declared  unworthy  to  partake 
of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ."  Wicked  and  unruly 
as  were  the  enemies  of  Calvin,  these  words  had 
such  effect  upon  them,  that  Perrin  sent  some  one 
secretly  to  Bertelier,  to  desire  him  not  to  approach 
the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  they  partook  of  the  holy 
mysteries  in  the  most  devout  and  edifying  manner. 

Leaving  Calvin  to  his  repose,  these  seditious 
persons  turned  their  rage  against  Farel.  Having 
visited  Geneva,  and  thinking  that  his  age,  and  the 
important  services  which  he  had  rendered  to  the 
Church,  might  give  him  considerable  authority, 
he  censured  them  severely  in  one  of  his  sermons. 
But  they  complained  loudly  that  Farel  had  done 
them  a  serious  injury,  and  he  was  no  sooner  re- 
turned to  his  church,  than  they  procured  him  to  be 
cited  to  Geneva,  to  give  an  account  of  his  conduct. 

Farel,  in  complying  with  this  order,  exposed 
himself  to  considerable  danger ;  for  the  faction 
was  extremely  incensed  against  him,  and  threat- 
ened to  throw  him  into  the  Rhone ;  but  a  bold  and 
courageous  young  man  having  warned  Perrin,  that 
if  Farel,  the  common  Father  of  the  city,  suffered 
any  ill  treatment,  his  person  should  no  longer  be 
safe  ;  and  others  well  disposed  having  joined  him, 
the  seditious  were  so  dismayed,  that  they  asked 
pardon  for  their  behaviour;  after  which  Farel, 
having  received  audience,  was  fully  justified. 

This  year  proved,  upon  the  whole,  propitious  to 
the  church ;  the  principal  thing,  however,  which 
afflicted  it  was  the  death  of  Edward,  King  of  Eng- 


130  MEMOIRS    OF    TriE 

land,  a  prince  of  extraordinary  virtue  and  piety, 
universally  lamented  by  the  whole  reformed  world. 
The  troubles  of  Geneva  did  not,  however,  hinder 
Calvin  from  prosecuting  his  studies ;  for  it  was  in 
the  midst  of  these  confusions  that  he  composed  his 
Commentary  on  St.  John. 

Calvin  was  at  this  time  occupied  with  the  care 
of  the  numerous  strangers  who  had  been  obliged  to 
quit  England  ;  some  of  whom  had  retired  to  Vezel, 
others  to  Embden,  and  the  rest  to  Francfort,  and 
who  all  frequently  solicited  his  advice. 

The  great  labours  in  which  he  was  engaged  for 
the  interests  of  the  church,  appear  in  the  number 
of  letters  which  he  wrote  to  different  princes,  to  in- 
duce them  to  embrace  the  Reformation ;  and  to  the 
persecuted  Protestants,  to  exhort  them  to  suffer 
death  courageously,  with  which  they  were  threat- 
ened ;  and  to  others,  to  support  their  confinements 
and  chains  with  constancy. 

The  harmony  which,  after  much  contention,  pre- 
vailed on  the  subject  of  the  Supper  of  the  Lord, 
was  now  interrupted  by  Joachin  Vestphal,  who 
having  sounded  the  tocsin,  was  followed  by  Hesh- 
usius,  who  was  afterwards  made  a  bishop.  This 
obliged  Calvin  to  publish  a  work  on  the  subject, 
which,  whilst  it  mortified  his  enemies,  proved  highly 
useful  and  acceptable  to  the  friends  of  truth. 

The  destruction  of  the  faction  which  had  so  long 
annoyed  our  reformer,  was  accelerated  by  the  dis- 
closure of  a  conspiracy  against  the  state,  made  by 
some  drunkards  concerned  in  it ;  in  consequence  of 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  131 

which,  some  were  condemned  to  a  capital  punish^ 
ment,  and  others  quitted  the  city. 

These  troubles  being  appeased,  Calvin  was  not 
left  without  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  his  virtue, 
as  he  took  great  pains  to  promote  the  establishment 
of  the  churches  of  Poland :  and  England  was  af- 
flicted with  a  most  cruel  persecution,  in  which  ma- 
ny persons  were  put  to  death,  and  amongst  others, 
those  glorious  martyrs  and  illustrious  bishops,  John 
Hooper,  Nicholas  Ridley,  Hugh  Latimer,  and 
Thomas  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The 
afflictions  of  England  affected  him  deeply  ;  he  also 
did  his  utmost  to  comfort  his  brethren  who  were 
persecuted  in  France,  and  to  inspire  with  Christian 
courage  the  five  generous  martyrs  who  were  burned 
at  Cambray. 

Matthieu  Gribald,  a  celebrated  lawyer,  who  had 
revived  the  opinions  of  Servetus  at  Geneva,  having 
escaped  from  Tubingue,  was  taken  at  Bern,  and 
after  renouncing  his  heresies,  in  order  to  escape 
the  danger  which  threatened  him,  he  was  no  sooner 
set  at  liberty  than  he  openly  supported  Gentilis,  of 
whom  an  account  will  be  given  in  its  place.  He 
afterwards  died  of  the  plague,  which  probably 
spared  him  an  ignominious  death. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Geneva  arose  a  faction 
composed  of  ministers,  who  were  extremely  bitter 
against  Calvin,  and  who  acted  under  the  influence 
of  Bolzec.  These  persons,  though  of  infamous 
characters,  thinking  to  acquire  reputation  by  at- 
tacking so  illustrious  and  formidable  an  adversary, 


132  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

accused  him  of  making  God  the  author  of  sin. 
These  calumnies  not  being  new,  Calvin  at  first 
despised  them,  but  being  compelled  at  length  to 
justify  himself,  he  solicited  permission  to  repair  to 
Bern,  accompanied  by  envoys  from  the  republic, 
and  to  maintain  the  cause  of  truth  there.  This  be- 
ing consented  to,  he  acquitted  himself  with  such 
complete  success,  that  Castalio  and  Bolzec  were 
banished  with  infamy  from  the  territory  of  Bern. 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  Bern,  he  was  at- 
tacked with  a  tertian  fever,  which  seized  him  while 
he  was  preaching,  and  obliged  him  to  leave  the 
pulpit.  This  circumstance  gave  rise  to  many  false 
reports,  which  were  so  acceptable  to  the  Roman 
Catholics,  that  those  of  Noyon  made  a  solemn  pro- 
cession, to  return  thanks  to  God  for  the  death  of 
Calvin.  This  was  certainly  one  of  the  least  suspi- 
cious eulogies  of  Calvin,  and  shews,  the  enemies 
themselves  being  judges,  his  importance  in  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  In  the  month  of  August 
in  this  year,  Calvin  set  out  for  Francfort,  with  the 
design  of  terminating  the  troubles  which  the  dis- 
putes about  the  Lord's  Supper  had  given  rise  to 
there.  The  Council  thought  it  necessary  to  send 
a  guard  with  him. 

The  zeal  of  Calvin  was  certainly  not  a  *'  zeal 
without  innovation  ;"  for  according  to  a  Catholic 
historian,  "  he  wrote  also  two  letters  into  France, 
to  confirm  those  of  his  party  in  their  errors,  and 
to  oblige  them  to  separate  entirely  from  the  church ; 
one  of  them  directed  to  JYicholas  Charminms,  is 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  133 

an  exhortation  to  avoid  idolatry,  and  the  other,  to 
Gerard  Roussel,  lately  made  Bishop  of  Oleron,  is 
against  the  Popish  priesthood. 

"  He  also  condemns  more  severely  than  the  Lu- 
therans do,  the  invocation  of  saints,  the  worship 
and  use  of  images,  vows,  celibacy  of  priests,  fasting, 
holy  days,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  the  adora- 
tion of  the  eucharist,  indulgences,  the  sacraments, 
except  the  eucharist  and  baptism,  and  in  general 
all  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  church,  which 
the  Ijutlierans  had  not  quite  taken  away."* 

Having  returned  to  Geneva,  though  he  found 
himself  indisposed,  he  did  not,  however,  remit  his 
usual  labours,  but  continued  his  Commentary  on 
the  Psalms,  which  he  gave  to  the  public  the  year 
following,  accompanied  with  an  admirable  preface. 
He  also  undertook  to  defend  the  truth  against 
Westphal. 

Speaking  of  Geneva  in  the  year  1555,  De  Thou 
observes,  that  "  there  was  a  tumult  during  the  night, 
which  was  excited  by  some  members  of  the  coun- 
cil, who  had  resolved,  with  those  of  their  faction, 
to  usurp  absolute  authority.  They  could  not  bear 
John  Calvin,  of  Noyon,  who  had  for  several  years 
taught  in  their  town;  and  they  hated  principally 
those  persons  who,  on  account  of  religion,  had 
come  from  France  to  Geneva  to  escape  persecu- 
tion ;  they  were  especially  indignant  that  a  consi- 
derable proportion  of  them  had  been  admitted  into 

*  Du  Pin. 
12 


134  MEMOIRS    OF   THE 

the  rank  of  citizens ;  from  whence  it  followed,  that 
in  the  degree  in  which  one  party  was  augmented, 
the  strength  of  the  other  was  diminished.  They 
therefore  made  use  of  the  following  artifice  in  order 
to  expel  them.  During  the  night  they  ran  about 
in  all  directions,  and  began  at  the  same  time  to  cry 
aloud  in  different  places,  as  if  the  signal  had  been 
given  that  the  French  were  under  arms,  and  that 
they  were  about  to  deliver  up  the  city  :  but  as  the 
French  kept  close  in  their  houses,  the  people, 
whom  the  conspirators  hoped  to  induce  to  take 
arms,  remained  quiet  also,  and  thus  their  artifice 
produced  no  effect.* 

The  news  of  the  dreadful  persecution  of  the  Pro- 
testants in  Paris  deeply  affected  Calvin.  Having 
assembled  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  the  Lord's 
Supper,  they  were  discovered,  when  eighty  of  them 
were  seized ;  the  greatest  part  of  whom  were  im- 
prisoned, after  being  charged  with  various  injuries, 
and  cruelly  treated ;  amongst  whom  were  several 
ladies  of  the  first  quality.  The  courtiers  who  in- 
fluenced the  king,  had  awakened  his  anger  against 
the  Protestants,  and  raised  this  storm  against  them  : 
besides  which,  the  state  of  the  kingdom  was  unfa- 
vourable to  them  ;  for  this  affliction  befel  them 
soon  after  the  French  had  been  defeated  at  Saint 
Quintin  ;  on  which  account  they  assembled  at  night, 
not  daring  to  meet  in  the  day ;  which  gave  rise  to 
those  idle  tales  which  Demochares  and  their  ene- 

*  liistoire  de  I.  A.  De  Thou,  torn.  II.  liv.  xvi. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  135 

mies  published  against  them  ;  accusing  them  of  the 
same  crimes  with  which  the  Pagans  endeavoured 
to  blacken  the  first  Christians.  For  besides  pre- 
tending that  the  Protestants  were  the  cause  of  all 
the  afflictions  of  the  state,  they  had  procured  false 
witnesses  to  testify,  that  after  having  extinguished 
the  lamp  which  hghted  them,  they  prostituted 
themselves  to  every  kind  of  abomination :  and 
notwithstanding  the  utter  improbability  of  this  re- 
port, there  were  not  a  few  weak  enough  to  give 
credit  to  it. 

But  the  rage  of  their  enemies  did  not  terminate 
here ;  for  twenty-one  of  these  unhappy  persons 
were  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive.  And  as  only 
seven  of  them  were  executed  at  a  time,  this  dismal 
spectacle  was  exhibited  to  the  public  at  three  dif- 
ferent periods.  The  first  who  suffered  this  cruel 
punishment  discovered  the  most  admirable  con- 
stancy, particularly  a  lady  of  quality,  and  two 
young  men. 

This  storm  was  at  length  appeased,  either  by  the 
calumnies  of  their  enemies  being  detected,^  or  by 
the  king's  being  influenced  by  the  earnest  interces- 
sion of  the  German  ambassadors,  whom  Calvin 
had  engaged  to  intercede  for  his  brethren  of  that 
kingdom. 

Whilst  France  was  thus  agitated,  the  republic  of 
Geneva  happily  contracted  a  perpetual  alhance 
with  that  of  Bern,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of 
the  exiles  of  that  city;  but  the  joy  which  that  al- 
liance afforded  them  was  damped  by  several  un- 


136  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

pleasant  occurrences;  for  besides  the  re-kin diiiii^ 
of  persecution  in  France,  the  heresy  of  the  Tri- 
theists  was  at  this  time  revived  by  Valentin  Gen- 
tilis. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  Servetus,  Gentilis,  a 
man  possessed  of  an  ardent  and  penetrating  mind, 
though  more  subtle  than  solid,  meeting  with  the 
work  of  Servetus,  and  Calvin's  refutation  of  it, 
easily  perceived  that  neither  the  ideas  nor  the  spe- 
cious reasonings  of  Servetus  to  cover  the  heresy  of 
Paul  of  Samosata ;  nor  the  confusion  of  persons  in 
the  Trinity  taught  by  Sabellius  ;  nor  the  sentiments 
of  Arius,  respecting  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  could  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  word 
of  God.  Perceiving  farther,  that  what  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  with  regard  to  three  persons  in  one  es- 
sence, is  above  our  conceptions  ;  instead  of  sub- 
mitting to  the  wisdom  of  God,  he  endeavoured  to 
persuade  himself  that  every  truth  must  be  necessa- 
rily intelligible.  Having,  therefore,  attributed  the 
principal  authority,  and  as  it  were  the  monarchy, 
to  the  person  of  the  Father,  whom  he  called  the 
only  sovereign  and  independent  God;  he  consi- 
dered the  essence  of  the  divinity  to  be  communi- 
cated to  the  other  persons,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  not  only  three  persons,  but  three  distinct  es- 
sences ;  that  is  to  say,  three  Gods  eternal,  almighty, 
and  immense.  To  maintain  this  heresy,  he  per- 
verted the  Scriptures,  and  the  authority  of  the 
Council  of  Nice,  of  Ignatius,  Tertullian,  Ireneus, 
and  Lactantius ;  and  rejected  all  the  orthodox  di- 


LIFE   OF   CALVIN.  137 

vines  who  have  embraced  the  doctrine  of  the 
Council  of  Nice. 

At  first  he  proposed  his  opinion  privately,  and 
amongst  other  persons,  to  Jean  Paul  Alciat  Milan- 
ois,  and  to  Georges  Blandrata,  a  physician,  prO" 
fessing  only  to  examine  the  reasons  which  might 
support,  and  those  which  might  overthrow  it.  But 
the  Consistory  of  the  Italian  church,  having  been 
informed  that  this  sentiment  was  spreading  through- 
out the  town,  convoked  an  extraordinary  assembly, 
at  which,  in  the  presence  of  a  certain  number  of 
seigneurs  chosen  for  the  occasion,  and  of  all  the 
ministers  and  elders,  the  reasons  alleged  in  support 
of  that  doctrine  were  refuted  by  Calvin  ;  this  con- 
ference induced  all  the  Italians  to  sign  the  orthodox 
doctrine,  witli  the  exception  of  six,  who  shortly  af- 
terwards, at  the  solicitation  of  their  friends,  signed 
it  also,  although  they  did  not  approve  of  it,  which 
soon  became  evident.  Valentin  Gentilis  at  first 
refused  to  subscribe  to  the  proposed  formulary: 
he,  however,  complied  afterwards,  but  continued 
to  dogmatize  against  the  received  doctrine,  on 
which  account  he  was  committed  to  prison,  where 
he  held  a  dispute  with  Calvin,  on  the  15th  of  July. 
Being  convicted  of  perjury,  and  of  voluntary  here- 
sy, he  was  condemned  to  be  beheaded.  Having, 
however,  abjured  his  heresies,  his  sentence  was 
commuted  for  an  ignominious  punishment,  to  which 
he  submitted  on  the  2d  of  September. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  right  of  private 
judgment  was  the  leading  principle  implied  and 
12* 


138  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

acted  upon  in  the  Reformation,  it  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  read  these  repeated  instances  of  intole- 
rance without  regretting  the  inconsistency  of  the 
Protestant  churches.  No  privilege  appears  to 
have  been  more  variously  contested  than  that  of 
the  right  of  private  judgment ;  a  privilege,  founded 
in  the  nature  and  responsible  circumstances  of  man, 
and  recognized  by  the  impartial  spirit  and  high 
authority  of  Christianity.  But  the  individual  right, 
as  well  as  the  right  of  communities,  is  frequently 
claimed  and  acted  upon  by  those  who  are  prepared 
to  resist  the  same  claim  when  asserted  by  others, 
whom  interest  makes  it  convenient  to  oppose.  To 
say  that  the  reformers  possessed  this  right,  and 
were  justified  in  employing  it  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Reformation,  and  that  their  Protestant 
brethren  were  not  entitled  to  the  same  privilege, 
is  an  assumption  which  no  friend  to  religious  li- 
berty can  consistently  allow.  It  is  true  that  the 
Reformation  had  chiefly  to  do  with  the  worship 
and  discipline  of  the  church,  though  not  exclu- 
sively ;  and  that  the  heresies  of  the  Protestants 
were  doctrinal ;  but  if  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment be  allowed  in  one  instance,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted in  all ;  since  the  New  Testament  knows  of  no 
limitation  or  exception,  but  considers  every  man 
as  exclusively  responsible  to  God,  and  rests  the 
?ight  and  the  exercise  of  it  upon  that  responsi- 
bility. In  unison  with  which  principle,  we  must 
understand  the  words,  "  One  is  your  master,  even 
€Ans/."    If  there  could  possibly  be  any  difference 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  139 

with  respect  to  the  importance  of  the  exercise  of 
the  right,  it  must  apply  to  doctrinal  subjects,  which 
on  account  of  their  extensive  importance,  require 
the  utmost  freedom  of  investigation,  and  the  most 
unbiassed  determination;  but  though  the  applica- 
tion of  the  right  is  in  these  circumstances  pre-emi- 
nently important,  the  right  itself  is  independent  of 
any  considerations  of  a  comparative  nature.  The 
denial  of  the  exercise  of  this  rational  and  Christian 
right,  seconded  by  influence  sufficient  to  prevent  it, 
would  necessarily  have  the  effect  of  throwing  us 
"back  again  into  the  darkness  and  barbarity  of  the 
middle  ages.  With  the  Papists,  an  opposition  to 
this  privilege  was  part  of  a  policy  by  which  a  cor- 
rupt hierarchy  was  long  supported.  This  princi- 
ple, enforced  by  secular  authority  and  superstitious 
awe,  would  have  rendered  the  Reformation  impos- 
sible. A  slight  acquaintance  with  the  history  of 
persecution  might  be  sufficient  to  teach  its  abettors 
not  only  its  incompetency  to  enforce  conviction, 
but  its  uniform  tendency  to  strengthen  opposition, 
and  confirm  prejudices.  But  it  should  seem  that 
there  is  connected  with  the  act  of  persecution  a 
certain  undefinable  pleasure,  which  is  at  once  the 
luxury  and  reproach  of  a  bigoted  and  malignant 
mind.  The  real  ground  of  persecution,  whatever 
specious  forms  it  may  assume,  is  the  native  depra- 
vity of  human  nature;  in  decidedly  wicked  cha- 
racters, it  selects  for  its  object  vital  Christianity; 
but  where  it  unhappily  obtains  amongst  religious 
persons,  it  must  certainly  be  ascribed  to  ill-regu- 


140  ItfEMOIRS    OF    THE 

lated  zeal,  and  a  mistaken  apprehension  of  the  ge- 
nius of  Christianity. 

Calvin,  being  convinced  that  the  best  method  to 
preserve  the  purity  of  religion  was  to  enligliten 
men's  understandings,  used  his  utmost  exertions  to 
found  a  college,  in  which  youth  might  be  well 
instructed.  In  the  year  1556,  he  proposed  the  es- 
tablishment of  one;  but  foreign  afiairs  prevented 
the  Council  from  attending  to  the  object  at  that 
time.  At  length,  in  the  year  1559,  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  his  wishes  accomplished  ;  a 
college  being  founded,  and  furnished  with  enlight- 
ened teachers  :  an  academy  was  also  erected,  which 
acquired  the  esteem  of  foreigners  by  the  celebrity 
of  its  professors. 

Some  authors  have  asserted  that  the  academy 
was  founded  by  Charles  IV. — a  circumstance  in 
the  highest  degree  improbable,  since  it  does  not 
possess  the  power  of  conferring  degrees.  La  Fay 
speaks  thus  of  it  in  his  life  of  Beza  : — "  A  while 
after  I  was  called  (saith  he)  to  the  ministry  of  the 
church,  in  the  room  of  Claudius  Pontus,  or  du 
Pont,  a  very  good  man,  and  most  faithful  pastor 
in  the  church  of  Geneva,  who  from  this  transitory 
life  had  been  called  to  that  which  is  eternal,  and 
withal  was  joined  to  Calvin  in  the  orofessorship  of 
divinity  :  and  that  very  year  wa:  made  the  first 
Rector  of  the  University,  on  the  5th  of  June  1559, 
when  for  the  first  and  lucky  time  were  read  the 
laws  of  the  university  in  a  fine  company  of  grave 
and  learned  persons.     He  pronounced  then  a  most 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  141 

excellent  oration  concerning  the  usefulness  of  learn- 
ing, partly  to  encourage  the  scholars,  and  partly 
to  confirm  the  magnificent  Lords  of  Geneva  to 
prosecute  this  so  noble  and  laudable  work  begun 
by  them  :  for  although  the  city  of  Geneva  was  then 
almost  drowned  by  an  infinite  number  of  difficul- 
ties both  within  and  without,  yet,  by  the  persuasion 
of  Mr.  Calvin,  a  great  personage,  and  of  whom  it 
is  impossible  to  say  too  much  good,  they  were  en- 
couraged to  think  efiectually  of  building  a  public 
college,  and  setting  up  a  school,  an  ornament 
which  the  town  had  wanted  till  then,  Calvin  only 
teaching  a  few  hearers  before :  so  after  they  had 
built  a  very  handsome,  convenient,  and  spacious 
college,  and  after  they  had  appointed  an  honoura- 
ble salary  for  the  professors  of  singular  learning, 
the  school  of  Geneva  became  famous  and  useful."* 

*  The  Church  History  of  Geneva.     By  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Andrew  Le  Mercier,  1732. 


142  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 


CHAP.  V. 

Calvin  presented  with  the  Freedom  of  the  City  of 
Geneva  —  Revises  and  republishes  his  Institutes  in 
Latin  and  in  French — Replies  to  several  Heretics 
'-^Though  greatly  afflicted  by  Disease,  is  unre- 
mitting in  his  Exertions — Is  carried  to  the  Church 
and  receives  the  Sacrament  from  the  Hands  of 
iBeza. 

IT  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  it  was  only  in 
this  year,  1559,  that  Calvin  was  presented  with  the 
freedom  of  the  city.  No  citizen,  however,  had 
ever  earned  so  well  this  honourable  title  as  he  had 
done  by  his  services. 

Calvin  was  this  year  attacked  with  a  quartan 
ague,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  his  subsequent 
illness  and  death ;  for  though  he  recovered  his 
health  eight  months  afterwards,  he  was  so  muck 
reduced  as  nev^er  again  to  be  perfectly  restored. 

During  his  illness,  though  his  physicians  and  his 
friends  conjured  him  to  be  careful  of  his  health, 
and  to  remit  his  usual  labours,  he  continued  to  dic- 
tate and  to  write  several  letters.  And  though  S9 
continually  occupied  that  he  could  not  fulfil  all  the 
duties  of  his  charge,  he  used  to  remark  that  idle- 
ness was  extremely  irksome  to  him.  It  was  at  this 
time,  however,  that  he  revised  and  republished  his 
Institutes,  in  Latin  and  in  French ;  and  corrected 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  143 

his  Commentary  on  Isaiah,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
render  it  a  new  work. 

At  this  period,  two  of  the  most  powerful  mo- 
narchs  of  Europe  terminated  their  differences  by 
an  alHance.  This  peace  would  probably  have  been 
fatal  to  the  Protestant  churches,  had  not  a  divine 
Providence  counteracted  the  designs  of  the  Catho- 
lics, who  had  obtained  an  entire  influence  over 
Henry  II.  and  who  abused  his  compliance  to  ex- 
cite a  persecution  against  the  Protestants.  With 
this  view  they  induced  that  prince  to  publish  seve- 
ral severe  edicts  against  them,  and  to  imprison 
some  of  the  counsellors  of  the  parliament  of  Paris, 
who  were  suspected  of  favouring  their  cause  ;  and 
inspired  him  with  the  design  of  destroying  the 
J^ew  Sect, — a  name  by  which  they  were  then 
called. 

But  while  the  church  was  overwhelmed  with 
consternation,  and  engaged  in  imploring  divine 
succour  with  all  imaginable  ardour,  Henry  II.  was 
mortally  wounded  at  a  tournament,  by  one  of  his 
captains  of  the  guards  ;  who,  by  his  orders,  had  a 
few  days  before  arrested  the  counsellors ;  this 
event  changing  the  face  of  affairs,  the  reformed 
were  delivered  from  a  danger  which  appeared  in- 
evitable. 

After  the  death  of  Henry  II.  Calvin  was  accused 
of  havmg  raised  a  conspiracy  against  Francis  II. 
although  he  had  disapproved  of  the  enterprise,  and 
employed  his  efforts  to  subdue  it. 

Stancaru3  of  Mantoiian  began  at  this  time  to 


144  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

teach,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  mediator  only  with  re- 
spect to  his  humanity,  accusing  those  of  Arianism, 
who  thought  him  mediator  in  respect  of  his  divini- 
ty, and  assertin-g  that  they  made  the  Son  less  than 
the  Father.  Melancthon  and  Martyr  wrote  against 
this  sentiment,  and  Calvin  refuted  it ;  briefly  fore- 
seeing at  the  same  time,  what  afterwards  happened, 
that  to  avoid  the  errors  of  Stancarus,  many  persons 
would  be  in  danger  of  falling  into  those  of  the 
Tritheists ;  he,  therefore,  expressly  cautioned  them 
to  be  upon  their  guard  with  respect  to  Blandrata 
and  his  party,  and  instructed  them  to  maintain 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  mediator  according  to  both 
his  natures,  without  multiplying  the  divinity. 

The  Vaudois  of  Bohemia  having  deputed  two 
persons  to  wait  upon  Calvin,  to  ask  his  advice  on 
several  points  of  religion,  he  received  them  with 
great  aflability,  answered  all  their  questions,  and 
exhorted  them  earnestly  to  join  the  reformed 
churches. 

After  the  death  of  Francis  II.  Charles  IX.  wrote, 
in  1561,  to  the  Council  of  Geneva,  to  complain  of 
their  receiving  into  the  town  the  enemies  of  France, 
and  fostering  those  public  disturbers.  Calvin  was 
accordingly  summoned,  with  his  colleagues,  before 
the  Council;  and  admitted  that  the  pastors  had 
sent  into  France  several  pious  men,  to  regulate  the 
churches  there,  which  they  had  been  solicited  to  do; 
but  that  they  were  too  deeply  occupied  about  the 
advancement  of  religion  to  be  employed  in  sowing 
troubles  in  the  kingdom  ;    and  that  he  was  ready. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN*  145 

with  his  colleagues,  to  answer  their  accusers  before 
the  king.  Charles  acknowledged  apparently  the 
innocence  of  Calvin  and  his  colleagues;  for  nothing 
farther  was  heard  upon  the  subject. 

Soon  afterwards,  Calvin  replied  to  Tileman 
Heshusius ;  and  published  a  w^ork  shewing  the 
blasphemies  with  which  the  work  of  Gentilis, 
against  the  Creed  of  Athanasius,  was  filled.  He 
also  published  at  this  time  his  work  on  Daniel, 
which  he  dedicated  to  the  churches  of  France; 
and  while  in  his  Commentary  he  appears  the  in- 
terpreter of  the  prophet,  in  his  dedicatory  epistle 
he  appears  himself  almost  a  prophet,  predicting 
the  tempests  which  were  shortly  to  arise,  though 
the  conference  then  held  at  Poissy  gave  reason  to 
expect  the  entire  destruction  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion. 

The  disputes  in  which  Calvin  was  interested 
were  not  yet  finished:  in  1561,  a  fresh  discussion 
arose  between  him  and  Baldwin,  who  had  pub- 
lished, during  the  conference  of  Poissy,  a  book  of 
Cassander's,  under  the  title,  De  Officio  pii  ac  puh- 
licce  Tranquillitatis  vere  amantis  in  hoc  Religionis 
Studio,  To  this  work  Calvin  replied-;  a  contro- 
versy ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  a  warmth  of 
temper  was  betrayed  on  both  sides,  which  reflected 
no  honour  on  the  disputants,  but  which  is  far  from 
being  singular  in  theological  controversies. 

Calvin  was  at  this  time  exceedingly  afflicted  by 
the  state  of  the  Protestants  in  France ;  for  after 
iiaving  obtained  an  edict,  which  put  an  end  to  the 
13 


146  MEMOIRS    OF    THK 

sufferings  to  which  they  had  been  long  exposed, 
and  which  granted  them  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion,  the  artifices  of  their  enemies  succeeded  in 
withdrawing  the  King  of  Navarre  from  the  Pro- 
testant interest,  and  the  Due  de  Guise  had  made  a 
cruel  slaughter  in  Vassi,  and  had  begun  a  civil 
war  which  long  desolated  that  kingdom. 

His  disorders  w^ere  now  visibly  increasing  daily, 
and  it  was  evident  that  he  was  making  rapid  ad- 
vances towards  a  better  world.  His  afflictions,  how- 
ever weighty,  never  dejected  him.  His  usual  duties 
of  visiting  the  sick  and  afflicted,  of  preaching,  and 
giving  theological  lectures,  were  punctually  dis- 
charged ;  and  knowing  that  the  churches  of  France 
were  not  only  openly  attacked,  but  secretly  de- 
famed to  the  German  princes,  he  drew  up  their 
confession  of  faith,  which  was  presented  to  the 
Diet  of  Francfort. 

On  the  19th  of  December,  Calvin,  being  con- 
fined to  his  bed  with  the  gout,  and  the  wind  having 
been  unusually  higli  for  two  days,  made  use  of  the 
following  expressions  to  some  friends  present :  "  I 
have  thought  I  heard  an  alarming  noise  all  night, 
and  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  it  was  occasioned 
by  a  great  number  of  drums.  I  cannot  understand 
it.  We  shall  certainly  soon  hear  of  some  important 
event.  Let  us  beseech  God  to  have  pity  upon  his 
church."  This  was  thought  very  remarkable, 
when  soon  after,  by  news  brought  from  France,  it 
appeared  that  on  the  same  day  a  bloody  battle  was 
fought  between  the  king's  army,  and  that  of  the 
Prince  of  Conde. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  147 

The  disorders  of  Calvin,  which  were  now  rapidly 
on  the  increase,  rendered  his  exertions  at  this  pe- 
riod ahnost  incredible ;  for  notwithstanding  his  re«- 
duced  state,  he  could  never  be  induced  to  remit,  in 
the  slightest  degree,  his  ordinary  occupations.  If 
at  any  time  his  weakness  prevented  his  attendance 
upon  his  public  duties,  he  never  failed  to  dictate  or 
write  a  great  variety  of  letters,  in  answer  to  per- 
sons who  consulted  him  from  various  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. Amongst  his  numerous  avocations  at  this 
period,  were  the  exhortations  which  he  gave  on  the 
subject  of  the  Holy  Trinity ;  his  answers  to  the 
deputies  of  the  Synod  of  Lyons  ;  the  Commenta- 
ries which  he  composed  in  French  and  in  Latin, 
upon  the  Books  of  Moses  ;  as  well  as  his  Commen- 
tary upon  the  Book  of  Joshua,  which  he  began 
this  year,  and  finished  a  little  before  his  death. 

The  year  1564,  when  he  entered  on  his  eternal 
felicity,  occasioned  a  deep  and  lasting  grief  to 
Geneva*  On  the  second  of  February  he  deUvered 
his  last  sermon,  and  on  the  same  day,  his  last  the- 
ological lecture.  His  asthma  depriving  him  of  the 
use  of  his  voice,  he  abstained  from  all  the  functions 
of  his  charge.  He  was  indeed  sometimes  carried 
to  the  congregation,  but  seldom  spoke. 

In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  physicians  of 
Montpellier,  he  gave  an  account  of  the  maladies 
which  his  various  labours  of  body  and  of  mind  had 
brought  upon  him.  For,  besides  being  of  a  dry 
and  feeble  temperament,  and  strongly  inclined  to 
consim>ption,  he  slept  very  unsoundly.    During  ten 


148  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

years  at  least  he  ate  no  dinner,  taking  no  nourish- 
ment until  supper-time.  He  was  subject  to  a  head- 
ach,  the  only  remedy  for  which  was  fasting ;  on 
account  of  which  he  remained  sometimes  thirty-six 
hours  without  eating.  He  was  also  frequently  at- 
tacked by  the  hemorrhoides,  which  were  brought 
on  partly  by  his  efforts  in  preaching,  and  partly 
by  the  excessive  use  of  aloes  ;  and  five  years  before 
his  death  he  was  seized  with  a  spitting  of  blood. 
He  was  no  sooner  cured  of  the  quartan  ague,  than 
he  was  attacked  by  the  gout;  he  was  afterwards 
Jifflicted  with  the  cholic,  and  a  few  months  before 
his  death,  with  the  stone.  The  physicians  exhaust- 
ed their  art  upon  him,  and  no  man  ever  observed 
iheir  instructions  with  more  regularity.  But  as  to 
what  relates  to  the  labours  of  the  mind,  he  had  so 
little  respect  to  his  health,  that  the  most  violent 
headachs  never  prevented  his  appearance  in  the 
pulpit  in  his  turn. 

Afflicted,  however,  as  he  was  by  so  many  mala- 
dies, he  was  never  known  to  pronounce  a  word  un- 
worthy of  a  Christian,  or  even  of  a  man  of  con- 
stancy and  courage.  In  his  greatest  agonies,  lift- 
ing his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  was  accustomed  only  to 
repeat  the  words,  "  How  long,  O  Lord  !"  When 
in  health,  he  frequently  made  use  of  these  words, 
with  reference  to  the  calamities  of  his  brethren  in 
Jesus  Christ,  whose  afflictions  were  much  more 
painful  to  him  than  his  own.  When  importuned 
not  to  dictate  or  write,  during  his  illness,  '^  Would 
you,"  said  he,  "  that  when  the  Lord  comes,  he 
should  surprise  me  in  idleness?" 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  149 

On  the  10th  of  March,  being  dressed  and  seated 
before  the  table  at  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
write,  he  was  visited  by  Beza  and  other  friends  : 
upon  seeing  them,  he  leaned  his  head  upon  one  of 
his  hands,  apparently  meditating,  and  addressed 
them  in  a  low  voice,  but  with  a  cheerful  and  open 
countenance  ;  saying,  "  I  return  you  my  thanks, 
my  very  dear  brethren,  for  all  the  care  you  take  of 
me ;  1  hope  you  will  soon  be  relieved  from  it,  and 
that  in  a  fortnight  I  shall  assist  in  your  assembly 
for  the  last  time  :  for  I  think  that  after  that  time, 
the  Lord  will  remove  me  from  this  world,  and 
raise  me  to  his  Paradise." 

On  the  24th  of  March,  he  assisted  at  the  Assem- 
bly as  he  had  predicted  ;  and  when  it  was  con- 
cluded, he  remarked,  that  God  had  given  him  some 
respite;  and  having  taken  up  the  New  Testament, 
he  read  some  of  the  marginal  annotations,  and 
asked  his  colleagues  their  opinions  on  what  he 
had  read ;  for  he  had  undertaken  the  revision  and 
correction  of  those  notes. 

Being  fatigued  with  the  exertions  of  the  day,  he 
was  worse  on  the  morrow.  On  the  27th,  being 
carried  to  the  Council,  he  walked,  supported  by 
two  men,  to  the  hall  in  which  the  seigneurs  were 
assembled  ;  where,  being  uncovered,  he  thanked 
them  for  all  the  favours  which  he  had  received 
from  them,  and  particularly  for  the  proofs  of  affec- 
tion which  they  had  shewn  him  in  his  lasf  illness ; 
•'  For  I  feel,"  said  he,  "  that  I  shall  not  again  have 
the  honour  of  appearing  in  this  place."  Having 
13* 


150  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

with  much  difficulty  made  this  speech,  he  took  his 
leave  of  them  weeping. 

Though  extremely  reduced,  he  was  carried  to  the 
church,  on  the  second  of  April,  when  he  heard  the 
whole  of  the  sermon,  and  received,  from  the  hands 
of  Beza,  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  feeble  as  was  his 
voice,  he  joined  in  singing  the  psalms.  His  coun* 
tenance  was  so  cheerful  and  serene,  that  the  con- 
gregation were  delighted  with  the  sight  of  their 
pastor's  great  joy,  and  entire  resignation. 

It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  a  more  interesting 
scene :  on  the  one  hand  an  illustrious  reformer 
and  venerable  pastor,  anticipating  the  resplendent 
crown  of  righceousness  awaiting  him;  and  though 
willing  to  abide  in  his  earthly  tabernacle  for  the 
sake  of  his  beloved  flock,  having  also  a  desire  to 
depart  and  to  be  with  Christ : — on  the  other  hand, 
a  devoted  people,  grateful  to  their  spiritual  bene- 
factor, for  his  laborious  exertions  and  edifying  ex- 
ample ;  wilhng  to  resign  him  to  the  society  of  the 
blessed  above,  and  thankful  for  his  apparent  meet- 
ness  for  it. 


LIFE   OF   CALVIN.  151 


CHAP.  VI. 

Calvin^ s  Will — His  far eiv ell  Address  to  the  Syndics 
—  His  Composure  in  the  Prospect  of  Death-— 
His  Death — Burial — Epigram,  and  Character, 

THE  will  of  the  Genevan  Reformer,  made  on 
the  25th  of  Aprils  and  which  contains  an  epitome 
of  his  sentiments  and  experience,  cannot  fail  to  be 
interesting  to  the  Reader,  and  is  here  inserted  ver- 
batim. 

THE    WILL    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

"  In  the  name  of  God.  To  all  whom  it  may 
concern^  be  it  known  that  in  the  year  1564,  and 
6n  the  25th  day  of  the  month  of  April,  I,  Pierre 
Chenelat,  citizen  and  sworn  notary  of  Geneva, 
having  been  called  in  by  John  Calvin,  minister  of 
the  word  of  God,  in  the  church  of  Geneva,  and 
citizen  of  the  said  Geneva ;  who,  being  indisposed 
in  body,  but  of  sound  and  disposing  mind,  bath 
declared  to  me  his  wish  to  make  his  last  will  and 
testament;  desiring  me  to  write  what  he  should 
dictate  and  pronounce ;  which  at  his  said  request 
I  have  done,  and  written  what  he  hath  dictated  to 
me,  and  pronounced  word  by  word,  without  omit- 
ting or  adding  any  thing  thereto,  according  to 
what  foUoweth. ^In  the  name  of  God,  I,  John 


152  MEMOIRS'  OF    THE 

Calvin,  minister  of  the  word  of  God,  in  the  church 
of  Geneva,  finding  myself  so  much  reduced  by  va- 
rious maladies,  that  I  cannot  but  think  that  God 
will  shortly  remove  me  out  of  this  world,  have  or- 
dered to  be  made  and  written  my  testament,  and 
declaration  of  my  last  will,  in  form  and  manner 
following: 

"  First,  I  give  thanks  to  God,  that,  taking  pity 
on  me,  whom  he  hath  created  and  placed  in  this 
world,  he  hath  delivered  me  out  of  the  thick  dark- 
ness of  idolatry,  into  which  I  was  plunged ;  and 
hath  brought  me  into  the  light  of  his  gospel,  and 
made  me  a  partaker  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation, 
whereof  I  was  most  unworthy.  And  he  hath  not 
only  gently  and  graciously  borne  with  my  faults 
and  sins,  for  which  I  deserved  to  be  rejected  of 
him  and  cast  out,  but  hath  vouchsafed  to  use  my 
labours  in  preaching  and  publishing  the  truth  of 
his  gospel.  And  I  declare  it  is  my  wish  and  in- 
tention to  continue  in  the  same  faith  and  religion, 
having  no  other  hope  or  refuge  but  in  his  gratui- 
tous adoption  of  me,  upon  which  is  founded  all  my 
salvation :  embracing  the  grace  which  he  has  given 
me  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  accepting  the  merit  of  his 
death  and  passion,  that  so  all  my  sins  may  be  bu- 
ried ;  and  beseeching  him  so  to  wash  and  cleanse 
me  in  the  blood  of  that  great  Redeemer  which  was 
shed  for  all  poor  sinners,  that  in  his  image  I  may 
appear  before  his  face.  I  declare  also,  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  grace  bestowed  upon 
me,  I  have  endeavoured  to  teach  his  word  in  its 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  153 

purity,  as  well  in  sermons  as  in  writings,  and  en- 
deavoured faithfully  to  expound  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures: and  that  in  all  the  disputes  which  I  have 
had  with  the  enemies  of  truth,  I  have  never  used 
either  craftiness  or  sophistry,  but  have  fairly  main- 
tained the  truth.  But  alas!  my  zeal,  if  it  deserve 
the  name,  has  been  so  cold  and  unworthy,  that  I 
feel  myself  highly  indebted  in  all,  and  through  all : 
and  if  it  were  not  for  his  infinite  bounty,  all  the 
zeal  I  have  discovered  would  appear  light  as 
smoke,'  and  the  graces  which  he  has  bestow^ed 
upon  me  would  only  render  me  more  guilty;  so 
that  my  only  refuge  is,  that  He  being  the  Father  of 
mercy,  I  trust  he  will  be  and  appear  the  Father  of 
so  miserable  a  sinner.  Further,  I  desire  that  my 
body,  after  my  decease,  may  be  interred  in  the 
customary  manner,  awaiting  the  day  of  a  blessed 
resurrection.  With  respect  to  the  property  which 
God  hath  given  me  to  dispose  of,  I  name  and  ap- 
point as  my  only  heir,  my  well-beloved  brother  An- 
tony Calvin;  nominally  leaving  to  him  only  the 
cup  which  I  received  from  Monsieur  de  Varennes, 
begging  him  to  be  content  therewith,  which  I  am 
persuaded  he  will  be;  knowing  that  I  have  no  other 
motive  than  that  what  little  I  leave  may  descend 
to  his  children.  Further,  I  leave  to  the  college 
ten  crowns,  and  to  the  purse  for  poor  strangers, 
the  same  sum.  Also  to  Jane,  daughter  of  Charles 
Castan,  and  of  my  half  sister  on  the  paternal  side, 
the  sum  of  ten  crowns.  Further,  to  Samuel  and  to 
John,  sons  of  my  said  brother,  my  nephews,  each 


154  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

forty  crowns.  And  to  my  nieces,  Ann,  Susanna, 
and  Dorothy,  each  thirty  crowns.  As  to  my  ne- 
phew David,  as  he  hath  proved  but  light  and  tri- 
fling, 1  bequeath  to  him  only  twenty  crowns,  for 
chastisement.  This  is  in  sum,  all  the  property 
which  God  hath  given  me,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to 
ascertain  it,  in  books,  furniture,  and  other  things. 
Should  it,  however,  prove  more,  I  desire  it  may 
be  distributed  between  my  nephews  and  nieces 
aforesaid,  not  excluding  my  nephew  David,  should 
God  give  him  grace  to  be  more  circumspect.  But, 
I  believe  that  with  respect  to  this,  there  will  be  no 
difficulty,  especially  when  my  debts  are  paid,  which 
I  have  given  in  charge  to  my  brother,  upon  whom  I 
can  depend;  naming  him  executor  of  this  testa- 
ment, with  Laurent  de  Normandie,  giving  them 
full  power  and  authority  to  make  an  inventory  of, 
and  to  sell  my  goods,  to  procure  money,  in  order 
Xo  comply  with  the  contents  hereof.  Dated  this 
25th  of  April,  1564.     So  be  it. 

"  John  Calvin." 

"  On  the  morrow,  being  the  26th  day  of  April 
1564,  the  said  John  Calvin  did  also  direct  me  to 
assemble  Theodore  de  Beza,  Raymond  Chauvet, 
Michael  Cop,  Louis  Enoch,  Nicholas  Colladon, 
Jacques  de  Bordes,  ministers  of  the  word  of  God 
in  this  church,  and  also  Henry  Scringer,  professor 
of  arts,  all  citizens  of  Geneva,  in  the  presence  of 
whom  he  hath  declared,  that  he  desired  me  lo  write, 
from  his  words,  the  said  will  in  the  form  and  words 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  155 

above :  desiring  me  to  read  it  in  his  presence,  and 
that  of  the  said  witnesses,  which  I  have  also  done 
word  by  word.  This  being  done,  he  hath  declared 
this  to  be  his  last  will  and  testament,  desiring  that 
it  might  be  faithfully  observed.  In  further  appro- 
bation of  which,  he  hath  requested  the  afore- 
named witnesses  to  subscribe  it  with  me;  which 
hath  also  been  done  on  the  day  and  year  aforesaid, 
at  Geneva,  in  the  street  called  the  Canons,  in  his 
own  house.  In  proof  of  which,  I  have  affixed  the 
common  seal  of  our  highly  honoured  seigneurs 
and  superiors,  and  my  seal  manuel  as  customary. 

(Signed)  "P.  Chenelat." 

"  It  was  thus  that  Calvin,  when  the  shades  of 
death  began  to  thicken  around  him,  bequeathed  to 
mankind  the  last  expressions  of  his  reliance  on  Je- 
sus Christ  for  everlasting  salvation.  It  deserves 
consideration,  that  in  this  his  dying  confession  of 
faith  are  to  be  discovered  no  traces  of  any  doctri- 
nal system,  but  such  as  is  common  to  all  devout 
members  of  the  Protestant  church.  He  ascribes 
his  salvation  simply  to  gratuitous  mercy  through 
the  cross  of  Christ;  and  what  is  worthy  of  remark, 
by  such  as  are  familiar  with  his  name  only  as  de- 
signating a  controversy,  he  unequivocally  speaks 
of  the  shedding  of  our  Saviour's  blood  "  for  all 
poor  sinners"  in  common  with  himself  Had  his 
death-bed  been  surrounded  by  persons  hostile  to 
the  peculiar  creed  which  is  designated  by  his 
name,  some  plausible  suspicion  might  have  arisen 


J 56  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

that  the  commencement  of  his  last  will,  in  obedi^ 
ence  to  their  persuasions  or  arguments,  was  in  fact 
a  recantation  of  earlier  opinions ;  but  in  reality, 
he  died  in  the  midst  of  a  circle  formed  by  him- 
self, and  unreservedly  devoted  to  his  person  and. 
theolog-y.  We  see,  therefore,  that  when  he  was 
delivering  his  final  sentiments,  such  delivery  was 
in  the  highest  sense  his  own  act  and  deed.  No 
opponent  was  present  to  suggest  doubts;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  as  his  attendant  friends  were  en- 
tirely of  his  own  school,  their  advice,  whether 
asked  for  or  offered,  would  in  either  case  have 
imparted  the  colouring  of  their  master's  system  to 
his  last  written  act  of  faith. — It  is  a  subject  of  re- 
ligious exultation  to  serious  minds,  that  there  is 
unquestionably  a  point  where  really  pious  indivi- 
duals, attached  to  creeds  and  communities  very 
widely  separated,  will  always  practically  meet.  It 
is  an  unity  not  of  a  few  correct  opinions  held  in 
common,  but  an  unity  of  spirit  growing  out  of  an 
unity  of  faith  in  Christ  crucified."* 

Having  made  his  will,  Calvin  signified  to  the 
four  syndics  his  wish  to  address  them  once  more 
in  their  assembly,  to  which  he  hoped  to  be  carried 
on  the  morrow.  But  they  informed  him  that  they 
would  visit  him,  and  conjured  him  to  be  careful  of 
his  health.  The  next  day,  being  all  present  at  his 
house,   after  the  usual   compliments,   and  Calvin 

*  Christian  Observer.    Review  of ««  Life  and  Institutes 
of  Calvin,''  by  Mackenzie  and  Allen. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  157 

having  told  them  that  he  had  long  wished  to  ad- 
dress them,  and  to  express  the  last  proof  of  his  af- 
fection for  them,  and  his  attachment  to  the  inte- 
rests of  the  State,  but  that  he  had  not  been  willing 
to  do  it  until  he  was  assured  of  the  near  approach 
of  death; — '*  I  thank  you,"  said  he,  "  my  highly 
honoured  seigneurs,  for  all  the  honours  you  have 
done  me,  however  unworthy  I  have  been  of  them ; 
and  for  the  proofs  of  affection  which  you  have 
given  me,  bearing  with  my  weaknesses,  and  my 
deficiencies,  with  long  patience.  And  though  in 
the  duties  of  my  charge  I  have  been  exposed  to 
various  struggles,  and  have  endured  numerous  at- 
tacks, 1  know  that  these  things  have  not  happened 
by  your  fault,  but  by  the  secret  orders  of  Divine 
Providence,  who  exposes  his  children  to  various 
tribulations.  But,  because  I  have  not  acquitted 
myself  of  my  duty  as  1  ought  to  have  done,  I  ear- 
nestly entreat  you  to  consider  not  so  much  what 
I  have  done,  as  what  I  intended  to  do.  For  I  can 
declare  with  sincerity,  that  I  have  felt  a  deep  con- 
cern in  the  interests  of  your  republic,  and  that  if 
i  have  not  discharged  all  the  duties  of  my  charge, 
I  have  at  least  used  my  utmost  endeavours  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  the  public. 

"  If  I  were  not  indeed  to  acknowledge  that  the 
Lord  has  made  use  of  my  ministry  for  the  good  of 
his  church,  and  that  by  the  help  of  heaven,  my  la- 
bours have  not  been  useless  to  you,  you  might 
with  justice  accuse  me  of  dissimulation.  But  as  I 
am  convinced  that  what  I  have  done  is  trifling, 
14 


158  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

compared  to  what  the  Lord  required  of  me,  I  be- 
seech you  earnestly  to  excuse  my  faults  and  my 
short-comings. 

"  I  thank  you,  however,  for  the  indulgence  which 
you  have  shewn  me,  in  bearing  with  mildness  and 
with  charity  all  my  transports  of  anger,  which  I 
hope  God  w^ill  pardon,  as  well  as  all  my  other  sins. 
Finally,  I  declare  before  God,  that  I  have  not 
rashly  or  without  due  conviction,  taught  you  the 
doctrine  which  you  have  heard  from  me;  but  that 
I  have  purely  and  sincerely  preached  to  you  the 
word  of  God,  according  to  the  charge  which  he 
hath  given  me  of  it.  And  as  I  should  have  pro- 
voked his  anger,  if  I  had  acted  otherwise,  so  I  am 
persuaded  that  my  labours,  and  tlie  pains  which  I 
have  taken  to  instruct  you,  have  not  been  displea- 
sing to  him.  And  I  make  this  declaration  before 
God,  and  in  your  presence,  so  much  the  more  wil- 
lingly, as  I  do  not  doubt  that  Satan,  after  his  usu- 
al manner,  will  raise  up  many  light,  wicked,  and 
ambitious  spirits,  to  corrupt  and  change  the  pure 
doctrine  which  I  have  published  to  you." 

Having  represented  to  them  the  infinite  blessings 
with  which  God  had  loaded  them;  "  There  is  no 
one,"  added  he,  "  who  can  better  than  myself  in- 
form you  from  how  many  dangers  the  powerful 
and  merciful  hand  of  the  Lord  hath  delivered  you. 
You  see  the  happy  state  in  which  you  now  are. 
Whether,  therefore,  you  are  in  prosperity  or  in  ad- 
versity, keep  this  truth  constantly  in  view,  that  it 
is  God  alone  who  preserves  cities  and  kingdoms, 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  159 

and  that  he  requires  homage  from  them,  in  ac- 
knowledgment that  they  depend  entirely  upon  him- 
self. Remember  that  David,  that  illustrious  king, 
confesses  that  at  a  time  when  he  enjoyed  a  pro- 
found peace,  he  experienced  so  dangerous  a  fall, 
from  which  he  would  never  have  arisen,  if  the 
Lord  by  a  singular  favour  had  not  stretched  out 
his  hand.  What  ought  not  weak  and  infirm  men, 
therefore,  to  fear,  since  so  powerful  and  pious  a 
prince  has  fallen  f 

"  You  must,  therefore,  humble  yourselves  ex- 
ceedingly before  God,  if  you  desire  that  he  would 
give  you  grace  to  live  in  his  fear,  and  to  put  your 
whole  trust  in  his  all-sufficient  help.  Conducting 
j^ourselves  thus,  you  may  be  persuaded  that  you 
will  experience  his  protection,  as  you  have  done 
hitherto,  and  that  you  will  remain  firm  and  unsha- 
ken, although  your  salvation  hangs  upon  a  slender 
thread.  If,  therefore,  the  Lord  prosper  your  de- 
signs, be  careful  that  you  do  not  exalt  yourselves 
like  the  profane,  but  with  deep  submission  render 
unto  him  the  humblest  thanks  for  all  the  good  he 
is  doing  for  you.  And  when  you  find  yourselves 
in  adversity,  when  even  death  shall  surround  you 
on  all  sides,  fail  not  to  hope  in  Him  who  has  power 
to  raise  the  dead  ;  and  consider  that  God  only 
smites  you  to  excite  your  zeal,  and  to  teach  you  to 
hope  in  him  alone. 

"  If,  however,  you  are  anxious  that  God  would 
preserve  you  in  the  happy  state  in  which  you  now 
are,  be  careful  not  to  defile  by  your  vices  the  ho- 


160  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

liness  of  the  church  in  which  he  hath  placed  you; 
for  he  is  the  only  Sovereign  God,  the  King  of 
kings,  and  the  Lord  of  lords,  who  loads  with 
good  things,  and  with  honours,  those  who  honour 
him  5  but  who  abases  and  covers  with  contempt 
those  who  despise  him.  Serve  him,  therefore,  ac- 
cording to  the  precepts  which  he  hath  given  you ; 
have  nothing  so  much  at  heart  as  to  obey  his  di- 
vine will,  and  seek  daily  to  acquire  some  new  de- 
gree of  virtue  and  of  perfection :  for  whilst  we  are 
in  this  world  we  can  never  accomplish  all  the  du- 
ties which  God  hath  enjoined  upon  us.  I  know 
the  morals,  and  the  inclinations  of  each  of  you, 
and  I  know  that  you  stand  in  need  of  exhortation; 
no  man  is  so  perfect  as  not  to  have  many  faults. 
Examine  yourselves,  therefore,  carefully,  and  ask 
of  God  those  qualities  and  virtues  which  you  yet 
need. 

"  We  all  know  what  vices  reign  in  the  assemblies 
of  those  who  govern  the  states  :  some,  neglecting 
the  public  good,  mind  only  their  private  interests; 
others  are  only  anxious  to  gratify  their  passions: 
some  make  a  bad  use  of  the  gifts  of  Heaven; 
while  others,  filled  with  vanity  and  a  good  opinion 
of  themselves,  wish  to  impose  their  advice  upon  ruU 
the  world. 

*'  I  conjure  the  aged  not  to  envy  young  persons 
the  graces  with  which  God  hath  adorned  them ; 
and  the  young  to  discover  in  their  whole  conduct 
great  modesty  and  humility.  Be  not  discouraged, 
neither  trouble  one  another.     Avoid  all  kinds  of 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  161 

animosities  and  bitterness.  For  nothing  is  more 
likely  to  prevent  the  execution  of  designs  for  the 
public  good. 

"  To  be  defended  from  all  these  evils,  each  one 
must  be  satisfied  with  the  condition  in  which  he  is 
placed,  and  all  acquit  themselves  generally  with 
fidelity  in  the  employment  committed  to  them.  I 
entreat  you  also  to  be  careful,  that  neither  favour 
nor  hatred  have  any  influence  upon  your  judgments 
in  civil  processes  ;  and  to  take  care  that  neither 
fraud,  solicitations,  nor  any  other  oblique  means 
have  any  influence  against  right  and  just  reason. 
Should  you  be  tempted  to  support  the  bad  cause 
through  interest,  resist  it  vigorously  ;  considering 
him  who  hath  raised  you  to  this  dignity,  and  ask- 
ing of  him  the  succours  of  his  Holy  Spirit.  Fi- 
nally, as  I  have  been  the  subject  of  many  weak- 
nesses and  imperfections,  which  I  confess  before 
God,  and  before  his  holy  angels,  and  before  you, 
highly  honoured  seigneurs,  I  once  more  beseech 
you  to  excuse  and  pardon  them." 

Having  finished  this  discourse,  he  besought  God 
to  load  them  with  his  favours,  and  to  conduct  them 
by  his  Holy  Spirit,  for  the  advantage  of  the  re- 
public ;  and  having  shaken  hands  with  them  all, 
bade  them  farewell ;  the  seigneurs,  who  considered 
him  their  common  father,  could  not  separate  from 
him  without  tears,  or  without  discovering  the  deep- 
est distress. 

On  the  2Sth  of  April,  all  the  mniisters  of  the 
town,  and  those  of  the  country,  being  assembled  in 
14* 


162  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

his  room,  according  to  his  desire,  he  addressed 
them  in  the  following  discourse  : — '*  I  exhort  }  on, 
my  brethren,  to  discover  after  my  death  the  same 
zeal  in  the  exercise  of  your  charge,  which  you 
have  hitherto  shewn,  and  never  to  lose  courage : 
being  persuaded  that  the  Lord  will  defend  this 
church  and  this  republic  from  all  the  dangers  with 
which  they  are  threatened.  Suffer  not  divisions 
and  enmities  ever  to  destroy  that  mutual  charity 
which  ought  to  reign  amongst  you.  Think  con- 
tinually of  what  you  owe  to  the  flocks  of  which 
you  are  the  pastors ;  and  let  nothing  separate  you 
from  them.  I  know  that  those  who  wish  to  desert 
them  will  not  want  pretexts  to  colour  their  infideli- 
ty ;  but  a  fatal  experience  will  one  day  convince 
them,  that  the  Lord  cannot  be  mocked. 

"  When  I  first  arrived  in  this  city,  the  gospel 
was  indeed  preached ;  but  disorder  and  confusion 
were  so  universal,  that  every  body  made  Christi- 
anity to  consist  in  the  overthrow  of  the  laws ;  and 
1  suffered  many  indignities  from  several  base  per- 
sons, whose  insolence  I  endeavoured  to  repress. 
However,  though  naturally  extremely  timid,  God 
banished  from  my  heart  all  fear,  and  gave  me  so 
firm  and  intrepid  a  courage,  that  I  resisted  all  the 
attempts  of  the  wicked,  and  was  invincible  to  all 
their  attacks. 

"  When  I  returned  from  Strasbourg,  I  confess  it 
was  with  extreme  reluctance  that  I  yielded  to  the 
earnest  prayers  of  this  church ;  because  I  thought 
that  all  my  cares  would  produce  no  fruit :    for  I 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  163 

was  ignorant  of  the  designs  of  Divine  Providence ; 
and  I  perceived  that  I  was  engaging  in  an  enter- 
prise full  of  difficulties,  which  to  me  appeared  in- 
surmountable. But,  having  begun  this  holy  work, 
and  continuing  to  apply  to  it  all  my  exertions,  I 
found  at  length,  that  God  poured  his  benedictions 
upon  my  labour. 

"  Persist  then  constantly  in  the  vocation  ,witli 
which  you  are  called ;  preserve  the  order  and  the 
rules  which  are  observed  in  this  church :  do  all 
that  depends  upon  you  to  retain  this  people  in  their 
duty ;  for  you  are  not  ignorant  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  the  wicked  and  the  rebellious.  You  perceive 
that  this  church  is  not  now  in  a  low  condition  ;  and 
you  will  draw  upon  yourselves  the  judgments  of 
God,  if  it  should  ever  be  destroyed  by  your  negli- 
gence. Finally,  I  declare  to  you,  my  brethren, 
that  I  have  always  been  united  to  you  by  a  sincere 
friendship ;  that  if  during  this  affliction  you  have 
felt  any  effects  of  my  grief,  I  entreat  your  pardon, 
and  return  you  a  thousand  thanks  for  having  borne 
with  my  defects  so  long  a  time." 

Calvin  having  been  informed  by  a  letter  from 
Farel,  that,  though  he  was  eighty-four  years  of  age, 
and  loaded  with  infirmities,  he  had  resolved  to  vi- 
sit him ;  replied,  "  I  wish  you  perfect  health,  my 
very  dear  brother ;  and  since  God  intends  you 
should  remain  in  this  world  after  me,  remember 
ever  our  union,  which  hath  produced  so  many  ad- 
vantages to  the  church,  and  the  fruit  of  which  we 
shall  gather  in  heaven. 


164  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

"  I  beg,  however,  that  you  would  not  on  my  ac- 
count expose  yourself  to  the  fatigue  of  a  journey. 
My  respiration  is  difficult,  and  I  am  about  to 
breathe  the  last  gasp,  happy  to  live  and  die  in  Je- 
sus Christ,  who  is  gain  to  all  his  children  in  life 
and  in  death ;  I  bid  you,  and  all  my  brethren,  my 
last  adieu. — Wholly  yours, 

John  Calvin. 

"  At  Geneva,  May  2,  1564." 

This  letter  did  not,  however,  prevent  the  vener- 
able old  man  from  paying  his  last  attentions  to 
Calvin  :  after  having  seen  and  conversed  with  him, 
he  returned  the  next  day  to  Neufchatel. 

From  this  time  to  the  period  of  his  death,  he  was 
incessantly  employed  in  prayer  to  God.  It  was, 
indeed,  in  a  low  voice,  interrupted  by  a  shortness 
of  breath,  with  which  he  was  oppressed ;  but  his 
sparkling  eyes,  constantly  directed  towards  heaven, 
and  the  serenity  of  his  countenance,  discovered  the 
ardour  of  his  petitions,  and  his  confidence  in  the 
mercy  of  God.  In  his  most  violent  pains  he  fre- 
quently repeated  those  words  of  David ;  ''  I  was 
dumb.  Lord,  because  thou  didst  it."  And  some- 
times those  of  Isaiah ;  "  I  mourn  like  the  dove." 
And  frequently,  lifting  up  his  heart  to  God,  he 
would  exclaim,  "  Lord,  thou  bruisest  me,  but  I 
suffer  with  patience,  since  it  is  thy  hand  that  hath 
done  it." 

To  admit  all  the  persons  who  wished  to  express 
their  regret  at  the  prospect  of  losing  him,  the  door 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  165 

of  his  chamber  must  have  been  open  night  and 
day.  But  as  he  spoke  with  difficulty,  he  requested 
Uiat  his  friends  would  be  contented  to  pray  to  God 
for  him,  and  spare  themselves  the  trouble  of  visit- 
ing him.  On  being  visited  by  his  intimate  and 
highly  valued  friend  Beza,  he  informed  him,  that 
he  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  not  to  divert  him 
in  the  smallest  degree  from  the  duties  of  his  charge, 
so  much  had  he  the  interests  of  the  church,  and  the 
glory  of  God,  at  heart.  In  this  state  he  continued 
until  the  19th  of  May,  exhibiting  a  perfect  resig- 
nation, and  comforting  his  friends.  And,  as  on 
this  day  they  were  accustomed  to  partake  of  a  meal 
together,  in  token  of  their  intimate  friendship,  he 
was  anxious  that  they  should  sup  in  the  hall  of  his 
house ;  and  being  carried  thither  from  his  cham- 
ber, he  made  use  of  these  words  on  entering :  "  I 
am  come  to  see  you,  my  brethren,  and  to  seat  my- 
self at  table  with  you  for  the  last  time."  He  then 
offered  up  the  usual  prayer,  ate  a  little,  and  dis- 
coursed in  a  manner  worthy  of  his  piety,  and  of 
his  zeal;  and  when  his  weakness  obliged  him  to 
retire  to  his  chamber,  looking  at  the  company  with 
a  smile,  "  This  wall,"  said  he,  "  will  not  prevent 
my  being  united  with  you  in  spirit." 

What  he  had  predicted,  happened;  for  until  this 
day,  however  weak,  he  had  never  failed  to  rise,  and 
to  be  placed  before  his  table.  But  after  this  night 
he  remained  confined  to  his  bed,  so  thin  and  ex- 
hausted, that  breath  only  remained,  though  his 
face  was  not  much  altered. 


166  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

On  the  day  of  his  death,  which  was  the  24th  of 
May,  he  appeared  to  speak  with  less  difficuhy,  and 
more  strength.  But  it  was  the  last  effort  of  nature. 
About  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  signs  of 
death  appeared  suddenly  in  his  face  ;  he  continued 
speaking,  however,  with  great  propriety,  until  his 
last  breath,  when  he  appeared  rather  to  fall  asleep 
than  die. 

Thus  was  this  great  light  of  the  Protestant 
church  extinguished.  On  the  day  following,  the 
whole  city  was  plunged  into  the  most  inconceiva- 
ble grief;  for  the  republic  regretted  the  wisest  of 
its  citizens ;  the  church  its  faithful  pastor ;  the 
school  its  incomparable  master ;  and  all  bewailed 
their  common  father,  the  source  of  their  joy  and 
consolation.  Many  ran  in  crowds  to  his  room,  and 
could  scarcely  be  persuaded  to  separate  themselves 
from  his  body.  There  were  also  several  strangers, 
and  amongst  them,  the  ambassador  of  England, 
whom  the  reputation  of  this  great  man  had  drawn 
to  Geneva ;  who,  not  having  been  able  to  see 
him  living,  earnestly  entreated  to  see  his  remains. 
Their  request  was  immediately  complied  with. 

Calvin,  after  having  been  concerned  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  many  churches  in  France,  Germany, 
England,  and  Poland,  and  having  committed  his 
flock,  as  well  as  pupils,  to  his  friend  and  disciple 
Theodore  Beza,  closed  his  indefatigable  career; 
and  left  behind  him  in  the  city  which  had  been  the 
principal  theatre  of  his  exertions,  a  reputation  for 
piety,  learning,  and  wisdom,  which  has  fallen  to 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  167 

the  lot  of  scarcely  any  among  his  fellow  labour- 
ers."* 

The  followhig  testimony  of  the  celebrated  De 
Thou^  a  Catholic  historian,  does  equal  honour  to 
the  subject  of  these  Memoirs,  and  to  himself: — 
"  John  Calvin,  of  Noyon  in  Vermandois,  a  man  of 
a  lively  and  ardent  spirit,  of  astonishing  eloquence, 
and  who  passed  for  a  most  profound  Theologian 
amongst  the  Protestants,  died  on  the  24th  of  May, 
after  having  endured  for  seven  years  various  afflic- 
tive disorders,  which  however  did  not  hinder  him 
from  discharging  the  functions  of  his  ministry,  from 
labouring  and  from  writing.  He  died  of  an  asthma, 
at  Geneva,  where  he  had  taught  twenty  years,  not 
having  attained  his  fifty-sixth  year."f 

On  the  day  following  that  of  his  death,  which 
was  Sunday,  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
his  body  was  covered  and  enclosed  in  a  wooden 
coffin ;  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  was 
conveyed,  without  any  pomp,  to  the  common  bu- 
rying place,  called  Plein  Palais.  All  the  seigneurs, 
ministers,  and  professors,  and  almost  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town,  attended  at  the  funeral  cere- 
mony with  expressions  of  the  deepest  grief.  No 
inscription  was  put  upon  his  tomb,  because  he  had 
expressly  forbidden  it;  but  the  following  elegant  and 
appropriate  epigram  was  written  by  his  friend  Beza : 

*  The  History  of  the  Helvetic  Confederacy,  by  Jo- 
seph Planter,  Esq.  F.  R.  S. 
t  Histoire  de  I.  A.  De  Thou,  liv.  xxxvi. 


168  MEMOIRS    OF   TH£ 

"  Romae  ruentis  terror  ille  maximus, 
Quern  mortuum  lugent  boni,  horrescunt  mali 
Ipsa  a  quo  potuit  virtutem  discere  virtus, 
Cur  adeo  exiguo  ignotoque  in  cespite  clausus, 
Calvinus  lateat,  rogas  ? 
Calvinum  assidue  comitata  modestia,  vivum, 
Hoc  lumulo  manibus  condidit  ipsa  suis. 
O  te  beatum  cespitem  tanto  hospite ! 
O  cui  invidere  cuncta  possint  marmora!" 


Shall  honourM  Calvin  to  the  dust  return, 

From  whom  e'en  Virtue's  self  might  virtue  learn  j 

Shall  he, — of  falling  Rome  the  greatest  dread, 

By  all  the  good  bewail'd,  and  now  (tho'  dead) 

The  terror  of  the  vile, — lie  in  so  mean, 

So  small  a  tomb,  where  not  his  Name  is  seen  ? 

Sweet  Modesty,  who  still  by  Calvin's  side 

Walk'd  while  he  liv'd,  here  laid  him  when  he  died. 

O  happy  tomb  with  such  a  tenant  grac'd ! 

O  envied  marble  o'er  his  ashes  plac'd ! 


Calvin  was  fifty-four  years  old  when  he  died^ 
half  of  which  time  he  spent  in  the  labours  of  the 
ministry.  He  was  of  the  middle  size,  a  pale  face, 
brown  complexion,  and  brilliant  eyes,  which  an- 
nounced the  penetration  and  vivacity  of  his  mind. 
Neat  and  modest  in  his  habits,  as  well  as  moderate 
in  his  eating,  he  had  no  less  horror  of  luxury  than 
of  impurity.  He  ate,  indeed,  so  little,  that  during 
several  years  he  partook  of  only  one  meal  a  day, 
on  account  of  the  weakness  of  his  stomach.     He 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  169 

slept  but  little.  His  memory  was  so  tenacious, 
that  he  remembered  persons  whom  he  had  only 
seen  once,  after  the  lapse  of  a  considerable  time ; 
nor  did  he  ever  forget  the  smallest  thing  con- 
nected with  his  charge,  though  oppressed  with 
innumerable  occupations.  Whilst  he  was  engaged 
in  composing  any  work,  though  interrupted  by 
important  duties  for  several  hours,  he  would  re- 
sume his  work,  without  reading  again  what  he  had 
already  written.  He  was  so  prudent  and  judicious, 
that  no  person  ever  repented  having  followed  his 
advice.  Though  his  manners  were  grave  and  se- 
rious, his  conversation  was  remarkably  sweet  and 
interesting.  He  bore  with  the  defects  of  others 
with  a^dmirable  prudence  ;  for,  as  on  the  one  hand 
he  never  oppressed  the  consciences  of  weak  per- 
sons with  terror,  or  threw  them  into  confusion  by 
censures  too  severe ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  he  ne- 
ver encouraged  sinners  in  their  vices,  by  excusing 
or  flattering  them.  A  friend  to  truth,  sincerity, 
and  candour,  especially  in  religious  concerns,  he 
was  the  declared  enemy  of  dissimulation  and  ob- 
stinacy. 

Being  of  a  bilious  habit,  he  was  easily  excited 
to  choler,  a  susceptibility  considerabl}^  increased 
by  a  studious  and  laborious  life.  He  had,  how- 
ever, learned  to  moderate  it  so  effectually,  that  he 
never  used  any  expressions  unworthy  of  a  pious 
man  :  nor  was  an}^  thing  capable  of  moving  him 
but  the  conduct  of  rebellious  and  undisciphned 
persons. 

15 


170  MEMOIRS    OF   THE 

No  person  could  be  more  disinterested  than  Cal- 
vin ;  his  goods,  his  books,  and  his  money,  did  not 
produce  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
crowns;  he,  however,  refused,  during  his  sickness, 
twenty-five  crowns,  which  the  Council  wished  to 
present  him  with ;  as  well  as  the  share  of  emolu- 
ments due  to  him :  he  thought  he  ought  not  to  re- 
ceive them,  because  he  was  incapable  of  fulfilling 
the  duties  of  his  appointments. 

Calvin  gave  many  proofs  of  his  attachment  to 
Geneva;  his  life,  principally  devoted  to  the  good 
of  that  republic,  was  a  perpetual  demonstration  of 
it;  but  he  furnished  a  peculiar  and  striking  in- 
stance of  it  in  the  month  of  May  1559,  when  a 
siege  was  apprehended ;  every  body  worked  in  re- 
pairing the  fortifications  of  the  town :  the  profes- 
sors of  the  academy,  the  pastors,  as  well  as  liter- 
ary characters,  after  the  example  of  Calvin,  under- 
took to  complete  one  of  the  bastions  of  the  place. 

Though  Calvin  was  sufiiciently  attached  to  his 
own  opinions,  he  respected  those  of  others;  and 
though  fixed  in  his  sentiments,  he  knew  how  to  es- 
teem and  commend  those  who  did  not  hold,  and 
even  those  who  condemned  them.  It  is  well  known 
that  he  was  thoroughly  decided  on  predestination, 
grace,  and  the  sacraments;  he,  however,  translated 
into  French,  the  Sum  of  Theology,  by  Melancthon, 
in  1546,  and  had  it  republished  in  1551.  Yet  Me- 
lancthon was  considerably  more  reserved  than  Cal- 
vin on  the  first  article;  and  called  absolution  a  sa- 
crament.    Calvin,    notwithstanding,  wrote  a  pre- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  171 

lace  for  that  work,  and  acknowledged  in  it,  that 
Melancthon  had  said  all  that  was  necessar}'  to  sal- 
vation, and  that  he  had  only  omitted  what  persons 
may  be  ignorant  of  without  danger;  he  even  de- 
scribed with  energy  the  disputes  so  ill  managed  on 
those  subjects;  saying,  that  "  they  were  perplexed 
and  confused,  and  produced  no  fruit  of  profitable 
instruction."  He  concluded  his  reflections,  which 
were  just,  by  a  handsome  eulogy  on  Melancthon, 
and  exhorted  his  readers  to  imitate  that  great  man 
in  moderation,  docilitj^  and  piety. 

The  above  instance  will  be  considered  by  the 
impartial  reader,  as  characteristic  of  a  great  and 
liberal  mind.  The  importance  of  unity  of  senti- 
ment with  regard  to  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
the  gospel,  can  never  be  too  earnestly  maintained; 
but  it  becomes  every  man  to  examine  whether,  in 
the  distribution  of  importance  to  particular  truths, 
his  decision  be  in  unison  with  scripture  authority 
and  example  :  or,  in  other  words,  whether  he  regu- 
late the  importance  of  every  article,  not  by  the 
rank  assigned  to  it  in  his  particular  system,  but  by 
the  relative  importance  which  it  occupies  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  The  truths  which,  in  the  New- 
Testament,  are  represented  as  important  to  be  be- 
lieved in  order  to  salvation,  are  few  and  obvious, 
and  easily  distinguished  from  what  may  with  pro- 
priety be  denominated  speculative  theology.  An 
attention  to  this  simple  distinction  would  prevent 
numerous  mistakes  and  disputes,  the  general  effect 
of  which  is  equally  injurious  and  disgusting.    Uni- 


172  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

formity  of  sentiment  ou  the  subordinate  points  of 
religion,  is  plainly  impossible,  from  the  state  of  so- 
ciety; nor  will  the  chimera  ever  be  pursued  by 
any  but  fanatical  bigots,  or  interested  communities. 
Truth  is  the  friend  of  Christ,  but  we  should  ever 
remember,  that  his  sheep  are  also  dear  to  him.  If 
in  defending  our  doctrines,  we  abandon  modera- 
tion and  Christian  charity,  we  shall  convey  an  im- 
pression that  they  are  incompatible  with  zeal  for 
truth,  though  it  is  their  union  alone  which  consti- 
tutes the  true  Christian.* 

A  remarkable  and  pleasing  trait  in  the  character 
of  Calvin  must  not  be  omitted.  Bucer  loudly 
blamed  the  vehemence  of  Calvin;  Calvin  knew  it, 
and  wrote  to  him  expressly  to  acknowledge  his 
fault.  ''  My  struggles  are  not  greater,"  said  he, 
"  against  my  vices,  which  are  very  great  and  nu- 
merous, than  against  my  impatience ;  and  my  ef- 
forts are  not  wholly  useless.  I  have  not,  however, 
yet  been  able  to  conquer  that  ferocious  animal." — ^ 
**  What  modest}^!"  says  Vossius.f 

*  "  Men  may  differ  from  each  other  in  many  religious 
opinions,  and  yet  all  may  retain  the  essentials  of  Christi- 
anity j  men  may  sometimes  eagerly  dispute,  and  yet  not 
difler  much  from  one  another:  the  rigorous  persecutors 
of  error  should,  therefore,  enlighten  their  zeal  with  know- 
ledge, and  temper  their  orthodoxy  with  charity,  that 
charity,  without  which  orthodoxy  is  vain ;  charity  that 
thinketh  no  evil,  but  hopeth  all  things,  and  endureth  all 
things.''^ — Dr.  Samuel  Johnson.  Life  of  Sir  Thoinas 
Browne,  p.  58. 

+  Epist.  PrsestaAt  Theol.  p.  817. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  173 

It  is  important  to  remark,  that  the  consideration 
which  Calvin  enjoyed  in  Geneva  did  not  place  him 
above  the  laws.  His  works  were  liable  to  the  same 
censure  as  those  of  other  writers,  and  he  was  fre- 
quently compelled  to  correct  them  in  the  manner 
thought  most  desirable.  Does  not  this  clearly 
prove  that  Calvin,  instead  of  directing  despotically 
the  opinions  of  his  superiors  and  his  equals,  often 
sacrificed  his  own  to  those  which  were  prescribed 
to  himf 

M.  Gaillard,  an  historian  distinguished  for  ac- 
curacy and  eloquence,  attributes  to  Calvin  the 
wars  which  religion  gave  rise  to  in  France;  but  of 
this  he  furnishes  no  proof:  on  the  contrary,  it  is 
certain  that  he  sought  peace  with  ardour ;  that  he 
would  have  established  it  universally ;  that  he  ex- 
horted all  those  who  attempted  to  interrupt  it;  that 
he  wrote  in  the  same  strain  to  all  who  consulted 
him;  and  that  he  solicited  money  of  the  German 
princes  for  the  persecuted  Protestants  in  France : 
His  correspondence,  printed,  and  in  manuscript, 
leaves  no  doubt  with  respect  to  his  pacific  inten- 
tions. 

We  have  already  seen  that  he  was  zealous  and 
indefatigable  in  the  pursuit  of  truth;  active  and 
courageous  in  the  propagation  of  it;  pure  in  his 
morals,  correct  in  his  conduct,  and  disinterested 
in  all  his  actions.  Superior  to  trifling  considera- 
tions of  vanity,  he  despised  luxury,  honours,  and 
pleasures;  his  vices  arose  out  of  the  extremity  of 
his  virtues;  he  instantly  became  indignant  whenever 
13* 


174  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

he  saw  truth  and  piety  prostrated  at  tlie  feet  of  the 
wicked :  an  enemy  of  all  dissimulation,  he  express- 
ed himself  with  frankness;  and  as  he  was  naturally 
violent,  his  manner  was  harsh  and  painful;  but  he 
never  spared  himself:  he  acknowledged  his  faults; 
he  displa3'ed  them  unveiled,  and  frequently  treated 
himself  with  the  same  severity  which  he  shewed  to 
others.  It  is  certain  that  if  Calvin  did  not  gain 
the  friendship  of  all  who  knew  him,  he  at  least 
commanded  their  esteem. 

In  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  M.  L'Abbe  Be- 
rault  De  Bercastel,  it  appears  that  that  historiaa 
has  assembled  whatever  can  be  imagined  of  an 
atrocious  nature,  to  render  the  character  of  a  great 
man  odious,  whom  he  did  not  know ;  to  calumni- 
ate those  virtues  which  he  could  not  dispute ;  and 
to  lower  those  talents  which  he  was  compelled  to 
admit.  But  it  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  the 
Reformer  not  being  a  favourite  of  the  Abbe. 

Calvin  surpassed  all  the  leaders  of  his  day,  by . 
liis  superior  intellect :  he  was  even  the  reformer  of 
the  Romish  church,  which  he  induc-ed  to  suppress 
many  crying  abuses,  authorized  by  her  silence  :  he 
contributed  to  deliver  mankind  from  the  yoke  of 
superstition,  and  to  give  them  just  views  of  des- 
potism over  conscience:  by  forcing  the  clergy  to 
study  and  to  reason,  he  favoured  the  progress  of 
science  and  philosophy.  But  it  was  in  Geneva, 
especially,  that  he  unfolded  the  energy  of  his  soul; 
where  he  was  at  once  the  light  of  the  church,  the 
oracle  of  the  laws,  the  support  of  liberty,  the  re- 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  175 

storer  of  morals,  the  fountain  of  literature  and  of 
the  sciences.  To  him  the  Genevese  are  indebted 
for  the  virtues  which  have  so  long  rendered  them 
celebrated,  and  the  sciences  which  they  cultivate 
with  so  much  success.  To  the  composition  of  the 
edicts,  civil  and  political,  which  have  ensured  the 
prosperity  of  the  republic  during  so  many  years, 
he  devoted  much  of  his  time ;  so  that  Montesquieu 
has  remarked  with  propriety,  that  "  The  Genevese 
ought  to  bless  the  moment  of  the  birth  of  Calvin, 
and  that  of  his  arrival  within  the  walls  of  Geneva." 

Calvin  was  acquainted  with  all  the  great  men  of 
his  age,  who  were  distinguished  either  by  their 
rank,  or  the  part  which  they  were  then  acting  in 
Europe;  as  is  evident  from  the  large  collection  of 
his  letters  in  the  library  of  Geneva;  from  those 
which  are  found  in  the  library  of  the  King  of 
France,  under  the  numbers  8585,  and  8586,  of 
the  Latin  manuscripts :  as  well  as  from  the  manu- 
scripts of  M.  Dupuy,  No.  102:  there  are  also  a  great 
number  in  the  library  of  the  Due  de  Saxe  Gotha ; 
they  were  afterwards  collected  by  Theodore  de  Beza, 
who  sold  them,  with  his  library,  to  George  de  Zas- 
trissel.  Those  which  are  printed  are  very  generally 
known,  and  there  are  few  libraries  without  some  of 
them. 

It  has  frequently  been  asked,  why  Calvin  was 
usually  styled  Maitre  Jehan  Calvin  .^*  It  has  been 
thought  that  he  took  this  title  as  doctor  in  law ; 
others  suppose  he  was  called  so,  according  to  the 

*  Master  John  Calvin. 


176  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

Swiss  custom,  by  which  the  pastors  are  presented 
to  the  people  by  the  title  of  Master  or  Doctor;  but 
then  all  the  ministers,  who  had  studied  in  law, 
would  have  adopted  the  same  honour:  this  usage, 
however,  was  not  adopted  by  the  colleagues  and 
successors  of  Calvin. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  so  many  good 
qualities  and  great  virtues  excited  so  many  ene- 
mies, if  we  reflect,  not  only  upon  sacred,  but  upon 
profane  history,  and  consider  the  adventures  of  the 
most  famous  heroes  of  Pagan  antiquity.  Nor  will 
it  be  thought  strange,  that  so  valiant  a  defender  of 
holy  doctrine,  a  man  who  had  so  extreme  an  hor- 
ror of  vice,  and  so  ardent  a  love  of  virtue,  should 
be  attacked  so  vigorously  by  enemies  from  without 
and  from  within. 

In  the  opinion  of  a  celebrated  divine  of  the  pre- 
sent day,  Calvin  was  the  "  Paul  of  the  Reforma- 
tion."— "  Had  any  thing,"  he  remarks,  "  been 
wanting  in  his  own  writings,  in  the  opinion  of  his 
cotemporaries,  in  his  influence  with  the  political 
and  ecclesiastical  cabinets  of  Europe,  and  in  the 
dread  and  terror  of  the  Papists,  to  evince  the 
greatness  of  this  extraordinary  man,  it  would 
have  been  supplied  by  the  rancorous  malignity 
which  assailed  him  during  his  life ;  and  which  has 
been  hardly,  if  at  all,  abated  by  his  death.  His 
very  name  seems  at  this  day  to  blister  the  tribes  of 
error  in  all  its  gradations ;  and  to  form  a  solitary 
exception  to  the  reverence  which  the  world  enter- 
tains for  departed  genius.    More  than  two  hundred 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  177 

and  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  he  went  to  join 
the  apostle  whom  he  so  much  resembled,  in  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  and  there  is  hardly  an  enemy  to 
the  truth,  of  whatever  size,  who  does  not  think  it 
incumbent  on  him  to  derive  importance  from  '  a 
gird'  at  the  memory  of  Calvin."* 

Calvin  was  accused  of  being  a  heretic;  but  was 
not  Jesus  Christ  treated  in  the  same  manner  by  the 
Jewish  priests  ?  He  was  banished  from  Greneva, 
but  he  was  afterwards  recalled.  And  though  this 
had  not  been  the  case,  did  not  the  Apostles,  St. 
Athanasius  and  St.  Chrysostom,  suffer  the  same 
treatment  f  Other  attempts  were  made  to  blacken 
his  reputation  by  various  calumnies.  He  has  been 
accused  of  being  ambitious,  and  of  attempting  to 
play  the  Pope,  amongst  those  of  his  own  persua- 
sion. What!  shall  he  be  accused  of  ambition,  who 
chose  for  his  sphere  of  action  the  republic  and  the 
church  of  Geneva,  which  may  justly  be  called  the 
seat  of  poverty  ?  Shall  it  be  said  that  he  was  ava- 
ricious ?  He,  whose  effects,  after  having  even  sold 
his  library  at  a  high  rate,  did  not  produce  three 
hundred  crowns  ? — In  order  to  refute  this  calumny, 
'^'  My  death,"  said  he,  with  great  justness,  "  will 
shew  how  much  they  are  deceived,  who  persuade 
themselves  that  I  am  rich." 

An  instance  of  disinterestedness,  which  does  equal 
honour  to  his   moral  and  religious  character,  and 

*  A  Plea  for  Catholic  Communion  in  the  Church  of 
God.— Ey  J.  M.  Mason;  D.  D.  2d  edit. 


178  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

amply  refutes  the  absurd  charges  of  ambition  aiid 
avarice  which  have  been  brought  against  him,  de- 
serves to  be  generally  known.  It  was  related  at 
Geneva,  by  Deodati,  to  the  first  Lord  Orrery,  who 
flourished  under  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 

''  Eckius  being  sent  by  the  pope,  legate  into 
France,  upon  his  return  resolved  to  take  Geneva  in 
his  way,  on  purpose  to  see  Calvin  ;  and  if  occasion 
were,  to  attempt  reducing  him  to  the  Roman  church. 
Therefore,  when  Eckius  was  come  within  a  league 
of  Geneva,  he  left  his  retinue  there,  and  went,  ac- 
companied but  with  one  man,  to  the  city,  in  the 
forenoon.  Setting  up  his  horses  at  an  inn,  he  in- 
quired where  Calvin  lived;  whose  house  being 
shewn  him,  he  knocked  at  the  door;  and  Calvin 
himself  came  to  open  it  to  him.  Eckius  inquiring 
for  Mr.  Calvin,  he  was  told  he  was  the  person. 
Eckius  acquainted  him  that  he  was  a  stranger  ;  and 
having  heard  much  of  his  fame,  was  come  to  w^ait 
upon  him.  Calvin  invited  him  to  come  in ;  and 
he  entered  the  house  with  him ;  where,  discoursing 
of  many  things  concerning  religion,  Eckius  per- 
ceived Calvin  to  be  an  ingenious  learned  man,  and 
desired  to  know  if  he  had  not  a  garden  to  walk  in : 
to  which  Calvin  replying  he  had,  they  both  went 
into  it ;  and  there  Eckius  began  to  inquire  of  him, 
why  he  left  the  Roman  church  ;  and  offered  him 
some  arguments  to  persuade  him  to  return;  but 
Calvin  could  by  no  means  be  persuaded  to  think 
of  it.  At  last,  Eckius  told  him  that  he  would  put 
his  life  in  his  hands;  and  then  said  he  was  Eckius 


Llii:    Of    CALVIN.  179 

the  pope's  legate.  At  this  discovery,  Calvin  was 
not  a  little  surprised ;  and  begged  his  pardon  that 
he  had  not  treated  him  with  the  respect  which  was 
due  to  his  quality.  Eckius  returned  the  compli- 
ment ;  and  told  him  if  he  would  come  back  to  the 
Roman  church,  he  would  certainly  procure  for  him 
a  cardinal's  cap.  But  Calvin  was  not  to  be  moved 
by  such  an  offer.  Eckius  then  asked  him  what  re- 
venue he  had;  he  told  the  cardinal  he  had  that 
house  and  garden,  and  fifty  livres  per  annum,  be- 
side an  annual  present  of  some  wine  and  corn,  on 
which  he  lived  very  contentedly.  Eckius  told  him, 
that  a  man  of  his  parts  deserv^ed  a  greater  revenue  ; 
and  then  renewed  his  invitation  to  come  over  to  the 
Romish  church,  promising  him  a  better  stipend  if 
he  would.  But  Calvin,  giving  him  thanks,  as- 
sured him  he  was  well  satisfied  with  his  condition. 
About  this  time,  dinner  was  ready,  when  he  enter- 
tained his  guest  as  well  as  he  could,  excused  the 
defects  of  it,  and  paid  him  great  respect.  Ec- 
kius, after  dinner,  desired  to  know  if  he  might  not 
be  admitted  to  see  the  church,  which  anciently 
was  the  cathedral  of  that  city.  Calvin  very  rea- 
dily answered  that  he  might ;  accordingly,  he  sent 
to  the  officers  to  be  ready  with  the  keys,  and  de- 
sired some  of  the  syndics  to  be  there  present,  not 
acquainting  them  who  the  stranger  was.  As  soon, 
therefore,  as  it  was  convenient,  they  both  went  to- 
wards the  church ;  and  as  Eckius  was  coming  out 
of  Calvin's  house,  he  drew  out  a  purse,  with  about 
one  hundred  pistoles,  and  presented  it  to  Calvin; 


180  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

but  Calvin  desired  to  be  excused:  Eckius  told  him 
he  gave  it  to  buy  books,  as  well  as  to  express  his 
respect  for  him.     Calvin,  with  much  regret,  took 
the  purse :    and    they  proceeded  to   the    church, 
where  the  syndics  and  officers  waited  upon  them, 
at  the  sight  of  whom  Eckius  thought  he  had  been 
betra3^ed,  and  whispered  his  thoughts  in  the  ear  of 
Calvin,  who  assured  him  of  his  safety.     Thereupon 
they  went  into  the  church ;  and  Eckius  having  seen 
all,  told  Calvin  he  did  not  expect  to  find  things  in 
so  decent  an  order,   having  been  told  to  the  con- 
trary.    After   having  taken  a  full  view  of  every 
thing,  Eckius  was  returning  out  of  the  church ;  but 
Calvin  stopped  him  a  little,  and  calling  the  syndics 
and  officers  together,  took  out  the  purse  of  gold 
which  Eckius  had  given  him,   telling  them  that  he 
had  received  that  gold  from  this  worthy  stranger, 
and  that  now  he  gave  it  to  the  poor;  and  so  put  it 
all  into  the  poor  box  that  was  kept  there.     The 
syndics  thanked  the  stranger ;  and  Eckius  admired 
the   charity  and  modesty  of  Calvin.     When   they 
were  come  out  of  the  church,  Calvin  invited  Eckius 
again  to  his  house;  but  he  replied  that  he  must  de- 
part ;  so,  thanking  him  for  all  his  civilities,  oiTered 
to  take  his  leave.     But  Calvin  waited  upon  him  to 
the  inn,  and  walked  with  him  a  mile  out  of  the 
territories   of  Geneva,  where,  with  great  compli- 
ments, they  took  a  farewell  of  each  other."* 


*  See  the  State  Letters  and  Memoirs  of  the  Right  H 
Roger  Boyle,  pp.  4,  5. 


oil. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  181 

With  regard  to  idleness,  of  which  he  has  been 
accused,  it  is  only  necessary  to  glance  at  his  works, 
to  be  convinced  that  no  slander  was  ever  more 
barefaced. 

Dr.  Hoyie,  who  wrote  under  the  patronage 
of  Archbishop  Usher,  mentioning  Calvin,  says, 
"  What,  shall  I  speak  of  his  indefatigable  indus- 
try, almost  beyond  the  power  of  nature ;  which, 
paralleled  with  our  loitering,  will,  I  fear,  exceed 
all  credit?  It  may  be  the  truest  object  of  admi- 
ration, how  one  lean,  worn,  spent,  and  wearied 
body  could  hold  out.  He  read,  every  week  of  the 
year  through,  three  divinity  lectures ;  every  other 
week,  over  and  above,  he  preached  every  day :  so 
that  (as  Erasmus  said  of  Chrysostom)  I  know  not 
whether  more  to  admire  his  constancy,  or  theirs 
that  heard  him.  Some  have  reckoned  his  yearly 
lectures  to  be  one  hundred  and  eighty-six,  and  his 
yearly  sermons  two  hundred  and  eighty-six.  Every 
Thursday  he  sate  in  the  presbytery.  Every  Fri- 
day, when  the  ministers  met  to  consult  upon  diffi- 
cult texts,  he  made  as  good  as  a  lecture.  Besides 
all  this,  there  was  scarce  a  day  that  exercised  him 
not  in  answering,  either  by  word  of  mouth  or  wri- 
ting, the  doubts  and  questions  of  diflerent  churches 
and  pastors;  yea,  sometimes  more  at  once  ;  so  that 
he  might  say  with  Paul — the  care  of  all  the  churches 
lieth  upon  me.  Scarcely  a  year  past,  wherein,  over 
and  above  all  these  former  employments,  some 
great  volume  in  folio,  or  other,  came  not  forth."* 

*  Biographia  Evangellca,  vol.  II.  p.  57« 
16 


182  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

"  Such  a  preacher  he  was,  that  like  another  Or- 
pheus, he  drew  England,  Spain,  and  Italy  to  him, 
fining  Geneva  with  strangers."* 

A  striking  instance  of  the  placability^  of  Calvin 
is  too  interesting  to  be  suppressed.  His  piercing 
eye  had  unmasked  the  hypocrite  Troillet ;  he  had 
also  deprived  him  of  the  ministerial  character  to 
which  he  aspired.  But  when  the  sources  of  life, 
exhausted  in  Troillet,  had  weakened  his  hatred, 
and  he  perceived  death  approaching  with  slow  and 
certain  steps,  he  wished  to  be  reconciled,  and  sent 
for  Calvin,  who  ran  to  him,  forgave  him,  comfort- 
ed him,  and  received  his  last  adieu,  which  was  one 
of  gratitude. 

The  last  moments  of  Calvin  were,  perhaps,  the 
finest  of  his  life ;  he  bade  farewell  to  the  republic 
like  a  father  who  is  about  to  leave  a  beloved  fami- 
ly ;  to  its  chiefs,  to  all  its  citizens,  he  gave  wise 
counsels;  he  anticipated  the  regrets  which  his 
death  was  about  to  occasion ;  and  saw  the  tears 
which  it  would  cause  to  flow.  His  tomb  was  sim- 
ple, and  without  distinction;  but  he  was  honoured 
with  the  mourning  of  the  country  which  had  adopt- 
ed him.  She  owed  indeed  to  him,  in  part,  her 
liberty  and  her  happiness :  his  inflexible  severity 
repressed  licentiousness,  and  established  virtue, 
without  which  the  wisest  laws  speak  in  vain;  he 
also  revived  internal  union,  which  enabled  them  to 
defend  themselves  against  the  common  enemy.     If 

*  Marrow  of  Ecclesiastical  History. 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  183 

the  man    may  sometimes   blame  him,   the  citizen 
ought  ever  to  bless  him. 

The  just  and  eloquent  character  given  of  the  il- 
lustrious subject  of  these  Memoirs,  by  Alexandre 
Morus,  rector  of  the  academy  of  Geneva,  shall 
close  the  account. 

"  As  the  sun  when  he  arises  with  a  glorious  light, 
extinguishes  by  his  presence  all  the  stars  which, 
during  the  darkness  of  the  night,  held  the  empire 
of  the  heavens  in  the  absence  of  that  great  lumina- 
ry, and  scattered,  though  feebly,  the  grateful  light 
which  they  had  borrowed  from  him ;  thus,  when 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness  appears  in  the  beauty  of 
his  divine  rays,  he  extinguishes,  by  his  infinite  lus- 
tre, all  those  lesser  lights  of  the  saints  with  which 
the  church  is  adorned  on  earth.  Not  that  he  de- 
prives them  of  the  rank  which  they  hold  in  the 
heavens,  but  they  are  incapable  of  appearing  in  his 
presence.  That  divine  sun  reigns  alone  in  the  ma- 
jesty of  day,  but  the  men  whom  he  has  sanctified 
by  his  grace,  fail  not  to  keep  their  station  in  the 
night.  And  we  ought  to  contemplate  them  who 
live  in  this  age  of  darkness,  and  to  consider  them 
as  stars,  which  shed  light  to  guide  our  steps  in- 
to the  way  which  leads  to  a  blessed  immortality. 
Let  us,  however,  be  upon  our  guard,  lest  we  offer 
an  insult  to  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  by  compa- 
ring with  him  those  inferior  lights  which  we  see 
darken,  disappear,  and  die  away  in  his  presence. 
Let  us  ever  recollect,  that  whatever  fire  or  light 
holy  souls  possess,  is  derived  from  that  eternal  sun^ 


184  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

and  contemplate  God,  rather  than  man,  in  those 
great  personages  who  edify  the  church.  I  have 
thought  it  necessary,  gentlemen,  to  use  this  pre- 
caution, especially  on  this  day,  in  which  I  am  about 
to  portray  that  bright  star  whose  rising  has  re- 
stored to  us  light  after  darkness;  I  mean  John  Cal- 
vin, an  illustrious  personage,  if  ever  there  existed 
one ;  w  hose  memory  deserves  to  be  had  in  perpe- 
tual veneration.  I  am  about  to  represent  to  you 
tlie  great  wonders  which  God  has  accomplished  by 
his  ministry.  As  you  have  honoured  this  assembly 
with  your  personal  attendance,  give  me  also  the 
attention  of  your  mind.  I  beseech  you,  inhabitants 
of  Geneva,  since  your  own  Interests  are  involved. 
I  intreat  you,  noble  and  illustrious  strangers,  since 
I  am  about  to  address  you  on  the  interests  of  God, 
and  the  great  things  which  he  hath  done  to  pro- 
mote his  glory. 

"  I  have  often  considered,  that  as  we  cannot, 
without  criminality,  make  the  greatest  of  men  the 
companions  and  colleagues  of  Jesus  Christ;  so  it 
is  necessary,  on  the  other  hand,  to  guard  against 
the  opposite  extreme,  of  burying  their  memory  in 
an  eternal  oblivion.  This  would  be  to  despise  the 
rich  inheritance  of  their  pains  and  labours  which 
we  enjoy  ;  and  to  bury  their  name  in  silence,  with- 
out testifying  our  gratitude  by  the  slightest  remem- 
brance. I  therefore  conjure  you,  my  illustrious 
hearers,  with  all  the  ardour  which  I  possess,  and 
to  the  full  extent  which  religion  will  permit,  to  ve- 
nerate the  name  of  the  prreat  Calvin  :  let  him  live 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  185 

in  your  remembrance,  let  him  inflame  your  hearts  ; 
let  him  be  revered  in  the  senate  ;  let  him  be  ho- 
noured in  the  church ;  let  your  academy  and  your 
schools  crown  him  daily  with  fresh  praises  and  ap- 
plauses ;  let  your  citizens  have  his  triumphs  conti- 
nually in  their  mouths ;  let  your  youth  respect 
him ;  let  his  memory,  victorious  over  calumny,  be 
venerated  by  the  w  hole  earth ;  let  him  descend 
from  our  children  to  their  children*s  children,  to 
the  most  remote  posterity,  that  future  ages  may 
celebrate  with  immortal  praises  the  precious  recol- 
lection of  die  greatest  man  whom  Providence  ever 
raised  up  to  relieve  the  church  of  Geneva. 

"  Your  ancestors,  however,  have  not  erected 
statues  to  him  in  your  public  places,  nor  built  a 
chapel  to  his  honour,  nor  raised  a  monument  to  his 
mem.ory.  So  little  consideration  did  they  pay  to 
his  remains,  that  they  contented  themselves  with 
simply  throwing  earth  upon  his  body,  and  with  so 
little  distinction  from  their  common  practice,  that 
we  now  seek  in  vain  for  the  spot  where  his  bones 
rest;  a  little  moss  and  turf  serving  him  for  a  mau- 
soleum. Those  wise  men  judged  correctly,  that 
extraordinary  virtue  (to  speak  according  to  the  an- 
cients) consecrated  itself  by  its  own  merit,  which 
renders  it  sufficiently  venerable,  without  any  addi- 
tion. It  despises  foreign  ornaments,  and  requires 
no  attire  but  its  own.  In  a  word,  the  proper  re- 
compence  which  is  due  to  him,  is  not  to  engrave 
his  image  upon  marble  or  brass,  and  then  to  place 
it  upon  some  superb  edifice,  as  a  magnificent  tjie- 
16* 


186  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

atre ;  but  to  impi*ess  it  deeply  upon  the  hearts  of 
men,  with  sentiments  of  profound  and  pious  vene- 
ration, and  to  hear  his  just  praises  celebrated  in 
every  age.  For  this  reason  they  were  not  willing 
to  honour  the  ashes  of  Calvin  with  those  splendid 
attentions,  of  which  ambition  is  so  profuse  with  re- 
spect to  others. 

"  Let  us,  however,  always  remember,  that  the 
best  and  most  solid  praise  which  we  can  possibly 
bestow,  consists  in  imitating  him  whom  we  praise. 
Thus,  let  not  those  who  hear  me  this  day  be  satis- 
fied with  simply  forming  an  abstract  idea  of  this 
man  of  God ;  let  them  represent  this  model  in  tlie 
actions  of  their  lives ;  let  them  not  so  much  stop  at 
the  person  of  Calvin,  or  the  picture  which  they 
have  drawn  of  him,  as  to  be  prevented  from  con- 
templating the  Original,  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  we 
are  bound  to  refer  the  whole  glory  of  our  discourse. 
"  Recall,  I  entreat  you,  my  illustrious  auditors, 
to  your  remembrance,  the  great  and  extraordinary 
labours  which  exercised  the  indefatigable  spirit  of 
our  Hercules,  and  left  him  scarcely  a  single  mo- 
ment of  repose,  though  his  pale  and  meagre  body 
pleaded  loudly  for  relaxation.  What  the  most  ro- 
bust of  men  would  not  have  dared  to  undertake  in 
an  age,  that  great  genius  happily  executed  in  a 
few  years,  though  the  state  of  his  health  condemned 
him  frequently  to  languish  on  a  bed  of  infirmity. 
It  has  therefore  been  a  subject  of  surprise  to  many 
persons,  that,  during  the  short  time  which  God 
lent  him  to  the  world,  he  should  have  written  and 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  187 

published  so  great  a  number  of  works,  so  volumi-r 
nous,  and  on  so  great  a  variety  of  subjects.  But 
if  those  persons  would  consider,  not  so  much  the 
number  and  size  of  his  works,  as  the  solidity  and 
erudition,  the  choice  and  arrangement  of  subjects, 
the  beauty  and  purity  of  language,  and  other  ex- 
cellent qualities  which  appear  in  every  line  of  his 
works ;  they  would  be  less  surprised  that  he  has 
written  so  much,  than  that  he  has  written  so  well. 
Besides  which,  if  those  persons  would  pay  atten- 
tion, not  so  much  to  the  extraordinary  things 
which  he  has  written,  as  to  those  which  he  has 
done,  they  would  perceive  that  his  great  soul,  over- 
whelmed with  a  multiplicity  of  concerns,  which 
followed  each  other  like  waves  of  the  sea,  knew  no 
other  relief  from  his  labours,  than  a  change  of  oc- 
cupation. 

"  Let  them  farther  contemplate  the  storm  of  per- 
secutions which  assailed  him,  and  those  atrocious 
ealumnies  which  constantly  pursued  him,  and  I 
doubt  not  that  they  will  rise  from  simple  admira- 
tion into  wonder.  For  where  is  the  Argus  (if  I 
may  be  permitted  to  borrow  names  from  heathen 
fables)  who  is  alone  equal  to  so  great  a  variety  of 
occupations  f  Who  could  alone  arrange  them  with 
so  much  wisdom,  and  execute  them  with  so  much 
success.'*  How  many  modern  Augean  stables  has 
he  not  cleansed.^  What  Centaurs  has  he  not  over- 
thrown ?  How  extraordinary  then  must  it  appear, 
that  the  same  person  who  assisted  with  so  much 
assiduity  at  the  holy  assemblies  appointed  for  the 


188  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

decision  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  the  examina- 
tion of  the  doctrine  of  the  preachers,  should  be 
constantly  present  in  the  Consistories  established 
for  the  regulation  of  morals; — preach  daily  in  the 
temple; — teach  daily  in  the  school; — be  consulted 
at  all  times  on  the  necessities  of  the  republic ; — re- 
ceive and  entertain  a  crowd  of  visitors,  from  whom 
his  house  was  scarcely  ever  free; — and  be  under 
the  necessity  of  sending  every  day  various  des- 
patches to  all  the  countries  of  Christendom  ! 

"  We  may,  indeed,  form  a  better  conception  of 
it  than  others.  We,  who  sail  in  the  same  vessel ; 
we,  whose  hand  is  upon  the  same  rudder;  ive,  who 
sustaining,  at  the  most,  only  a  hundredth  part  of 
the  weight  of  his  labour,  seek  companions  to  share 
it  with  us;  ive,  who  notwithstanding  this  relief, 
complain  continually  of  the  weight  of  the  burden 
which  oppresses  us.  This  certainly  arises  from  our 
not  possessing  either  his  shoulders  or  his  strength. 
Would  to  God  that  we  might  at  least  imitate  his 
ardour,  his  application,  and  his  diligence!  For 
what  is  there  so  difficult,  that  a  great  assiduity  will 
not  overcome  ?  What  obstacles  is  it  not  capable 
of  surmounting.^  We  are  called  studious;  but, 
compared  with  him,  we  are  idle.  I  have  myself 
been  attached  to  study  through  life  (if  I  may  be 
permitted  to  speak  of  myself)  I  am  occupied  ex- 
clusively with  the  functions  of  my  charge.  I  add 
a  good  part  of  the  night  to  the  labours  of  the  day; 
and  without  wishing  for  other  praises,  I  dare  to 
pretend  to  that  of  diligence.     Notwithstanding  this, 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  189 

whenever  I  think  of  Calvin,  I  confess  that  I  am 
ashamed  of  my  idleness,  and  blush  at  possessing  a 
mind  so  ingenious  in  flattering  my  negligence. 
Calvin  certainly  had  not  chosen  without  reason, 
those  expressive  words  which  formed  his  device — 
'  Sincerely  and  Promptly.^  We  may,  perhaps,  have 
another  opportunity  to  speak  of  the  first.  It  is 
sufficient  for  our  present  subject  to  remark  now, 
that  he  has  shewn  us  the  second  in  its  highest  per- 
fection, in  that  wonderful  promptitude,  and  incredi- 
ble diligence  which  he  discovered  in  all  his  actions. 
"  Considering  these  things,  can  it  be  said  that 
Calvin  lived  only  a  short  time,  when  all  the  time 
that  he  lived  may,  with  the  strictest  propriety,  be 
called  life  ?  For  neither  ambition,  avarice,  volup- 
tuousness, nor  idleness,  which  rob  men  of  their  best 
days,  shared  any  part  of  his  life.  Even  sleep  in- 
terrupted him  but  little;  the  other  necessities  of 
the  body  still  less.  He  lived  longer  than  those 
persons  who  pass  a  long  succession  of  years,  ei- 
ther in  doing  nothing,  or  in  acting  contrary  to 
their  duty.  He  lived  longer  than  those  who,  in  a 
soft  and  shameful  idleness,  rather  squander  than 
use  life.  These  sort  of  people  die  long  before  their 
last  day.  He  lived  a  longer  life  than  those  who 
pass  their  eighty  or  hundred  years  in  eating, 
drinking,  and  sleeping,  without  study,  but  not 
without  vice ;  and  who  may  be  said  to  be  dead 
and  buried  while  they  are  alive.  What  advantage, 
J  ask,  do  they  derive  from  so  many  years  passed 
in  slothfulness  and  efieminacy?    Life  is  long  when 


190  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

it  is  husbanded  and  improved.  It  must  be  mea- 
sured by  action,  and  not  by  time.  Ii  is  to  be  va- 
lued by  its  weight,  and  not  by  its  duration.  For, 
indeed,  a  single  day  of  the  lite  of  a  wise  man  who 
fears  God,  is  of  more  vakie  than  the  lengthened 
life  of  an  ignorant  and  vicious  man.  Calvin, 
therefore,  lived  a  long  time,  though  he  was  taken 
from  the  world  in  the  midst  of  his  course,  since  he 
never  suffered  a  single  hour  to  escape  unemployed ; 
but  possessed  the  address  of  extending  the  narrow 
boundaries  which  God  had  allotted  him,  and  of 
arresting  the  course  of  what  is,  in  its  own  nature, 
the  most  rapid  of  all  things. 

*'  We  have,  therefore,  in  the  person  of  Calvin, 
a  rich  model,  not  only  of  a  profound  and  sublime 
knowledge  of  divine  mysteries,  and  an  inimitable 
beauty  of  composition,  but  also  of  assiduous  labour 
and  prodigious  diligence. 

"  Nor  could  he  behold,  without  the  most  lively 
grief,  the  vices  of  his  flock,  any  more  than  he 
could  permit  them  in  himself  *  If  you  desire,' 
said  he,  '  to  have  me  for  your  pastor,  correct  the 

*  disorders  of  your  lives.     If  you  have  with  since- 

*  rity  recalled  me  from  m}^  exile,  banish  the  crimes 

*  and  debauchery  which  prevail  amongst  you.     I 

*  certainly  cannot  behold,  without  the  most  pain- 
'  ful  displeasure,  within  your  walls,  discipline  trod- 
'  den  under  foot,  and  crimes  committed  with  impu- 

*  nity.     I  cannot  possibly  live  in  a  place  so  grossly 

*  immoral.  Vicious  souls  are  too  filthy  to  receive 
'  the  purity  of  the  gospel,  and  the  spiritual  worship 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN.  191 

*  which  I  preach  to  you.    A  life  stained  with  sin  is 

*  too  contrary  to  Jesus  Christ  to  be  tolerated.  I 
'  consider  the  principal  enemies  of  the  gospel  to 
'  be, — not  the  Pontiff  of  Rome,  nor  heretics,  nor 

*  seducers,  nor  tyrants, — but  such  bad  Christians ; 

*  because  the  former  exert  their  rage  out  of  the 
'  church,  while  drunkenness,  luxury,  peijury,  blas- 
<  phemy,  impurity,  adultery,  and  other  abominable 

'  vices  overthrow  my  doctrine,  and  expose  it  de- ' 
'  fenceless  to  the  rage  of  our  enemies.    Rome  does 

*  not  constitute  the  principal  object  of  my  fears  : 
'  still  less  am  I  apprehensive  from  the  almost  infi- 

*  nite  multitude  of  Monks.  The  gates  of  Hell,  the 
'  principialities  and  powers  of  evil  spirits,  disturb  me 
'  not  at  all.     1  tremble  on  account  of  other  enemies, 

*  more  dangerous ;  and  I  dread  abundantly  more, 

*  those  carnal  covetousnesses,  those  debaucheries  of 
'  the  tavern,  of  the  brgthel,  and  of  gaming;  those 

*  infamous  remains  of  ancient  superstition,   those 

*  mortal  pests,  the  disgrace  of  your  town,  and  the 

*  shame  of  the  reformed  name.  Of  what  impor- 
'  tance  is  it  to  have  driven  away  the  wolves  from 
'  the  fold,  if  the  pest  ravage  the  flock  ?  Of  what 
'  use  is   a   dead  faith  without   good   works  f     Of 

*  what  importance  even  truth  itself,  where  a  wicked 

*  life   belies    it,    and  actions   make  words  blush  ? 

*  Either  command  me  to  abandon  a  second  time 
'  your  town,  and  let  me  go  and  soften  the  bitterness 

*  of  my  afliictions  in  a  new  exile,  or  let  the  severity 
^  of  the  laws  reign   in  the  church.     Re-establish 

*  there  the  pure  discipline.     Remove  from  within 


192  MEMOIRS    OF    THE 

«  your  walls,  and  from  the  frontiers  of  your  state, 
'  the  pest  of  your  vices,  and  condemn  them  to  a 

'  perpetual  banishment.' In  these  terms  spake 

Calvin  in  the  council,  when  he  was  recalled  by 
the  very  suffrages  which  had  banished  him.  A 
convincing  proof  of  the  extreme  hatred  which  he 
bore  to  all  descriptions  of  vices. 

"  Since,  therefore,  it  is  evident  that  Calvin  has 
no  equal  for  depth  of  doctrine,  for  eloquence,  for 
erudition,  and  for  diligence;  since  he  was  ever  ar-^ 
dent  in  detecting  and  in  censuring  every  kind  of 
vice,  and  exemplary  in  practising  all  the  virtues 
which  he  recommended  ;  since  he  was  never  known 
to  fail,  either  in  sweetness  of  manners,  or  in  great- 
ness of  courage  under  trials,  or  in  patience  while 
suffering  under  injuries ;  since  he  was  ever  admi- 
rable for  prudence  joined  with  charity,  gravity 
united  with  affability,  severity  accompanied  with 
benignity,  and  modesty,  which  seemed  to  dispute 
the  victory  with  all  his  other  virtues ;  since,  final- 
Iv,  neither  imposture,  nor  envy,  nor  Antichrist,  are 
able  to  oppose  any  thing  which  does  not  defeat  it- 
self, what  remains  but  that  we  congratulate  our 
Geneva  upon  her  happiness  in  having  possessed 
Calvin,  recollecting  that  it  is  to  his  cares  that  she 
is  principally  indebted  for  the  truth  of  her  Latin 
anagram — 

"  Respublica  Genevensis, 
Gens  sub  coelis  vere  pia  !* 


"  The  Republic  of  Geneva, 
A  people  the  most  pious  under  heaven." 


LIFE    OF    CALVIN*  193 

''  and  tliat  it  is  to  his  labours  that  she  is  chiefly  in- 
debted for  the  glory  of  her  device,  expressed  in  an 
emblem  in  the  middle  of  t^e  name  of  Jesus  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness — 

'^  Apres  les  tenebres  la  lumiere.* 

"  Abridged  from  another— 

"  Apres  les  tenebres,  j'espere  la  lumiere  ;t 

''  which  had  been  used,  as  if  by  a  prophetic  spirit, 
during  the  preceding  ages. "J 

*      "  After  darkness,  light." 

f      ^'  After  darkness,  I  hope  for  light." 

I  Panegyrique  de  Jean  Calvin  prononce  a  Geneve, 
par  M.  Alexandre  Morus,  Recteur  de  L'Academie. 


It 


194  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 


CHAP.  VII. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  CALVIN. 

Character  of  Calvin  as  an  Author  and  Commenta- 
tor—  Testimonies  to  his  Excellence  from  Papists 
and  Protestants  —  Account  of  his  Christian  Insti- 
tutes. 

WE  have  already  portrayed  the  subject  of  the 
present  Memoirs,  in  the  character  of  an  illustrious 
Reformer,  and  shewn  the  influence  of  his  labours 
in  promoting  the  revival  of  pure  Christianity.  We 
have  seen  united  in  his  person,  the  most  entire  dis- 
interestedness, the  most  ardent  zeal  and  active  ener- 
gy co-operating  to  the  diflusion  of  knowledge,  vir- 
tue, and  happiness:  It  remains  that  we  now  consi- 
der him  as  an  author ;  and  it  will  be  abundantly 
evident,  that  few  persons  have  better  deserved  the 
tributary  praises  of  posterity  under  this  character, 
than  Calvin. 

When  we  consider  the  extent  and  variety  of  his 
works,  the  importance  of  the  subjects,  and  the 
practical  tendency  of  his  writings,  we  shall  be  dis- 
posed to  assign  him  a  very  high  rank  in  the  class 
of  useful  and  important  authors.  Indebted  to  no 
temporary  or  local  circumstances  for  the  impression 
and  popularity  of  his  w  orks,  their  interest,   unin- 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  195 

Silenced  by  the  fluctuation  of  circumstances  and 
opinions,  remains  undiminished.  What  Dr.  John- 
son says  with  so  much  justice  of  Watts,  is  equally 
true  of  Calvin  : — "  Few  men  have  left  behind  such 
purity  of  character,  or  such  monuments  of  labo- 
rious piety."* 

His  character  as  an  author  must  be  ascertained 
from  the  multiplicity  and  variety  of  his  works,  ra- 
ther than  from  any  single  performance :  it  would, 
indeed,  require  volumes  to  review  all  his  works, 
which  were  published  in  Latin,  at  Geneva,  in 
twelve  volumes  folio. 

But  the  most  important  view  of  tlie  writings  of 
Calvin,  and  that  which  is  most  congenial  with  the 
spirit  of  the  present  work,  is  rather  an  exhibition 
of  his  theological  sentiments,  than  a  critical  review 
of  his  compositions;  which,  were  it  practicable, 
would,  in  all  probability,  be  less  interesting,  and 
certainly  less  profitable. 

Under  the  investigation  of  Calvin's  merits  as  an 
author,  it  would  be  unpardonable  to  omit  the  con- 
sideration of  his  style. 

The  dignity  and  majesty  of  his  eloquence  were 
so  eminent,  that  those  who  had  the  greatest  aver- 
sion to  his  pretended  heresy,  were  constrained  to 
admire  in  his  writings  the  exact  purity  of  the  La- 
tin tongue,  and  to  confess  that  his  latinity  was 
worthy  of  the  Augustan  age.  Hence,  those  who 
are  willingly  blind,  refuse  to  acknowledge  that  the 

*  Johnson's  Lives  of  the  Poets.     Life  of  Watts. 


196  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

mighty  energy  by  which  he  replaced  Geneva  under 
the  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  recalled  multitudes 
of  other  people  to  the  practice  of  a  purer  and  more 
evangelical  worship,  was  the  effect  of  the  finger  of 
God,  as  undoubtedly  it  was.  They  ascribe  it,  on 
the  contrary,  to  the  soft  and  persuasive  eloquence 
which  he  possessed  in  so  eminent  a  degree.  Thus 
a  determined  partisan  of  Popery  has  not  been 
ashamed  to  use  these  words  : 

"  Et  toy,  Calvin,  le  fleau  du  regne  a  triple  etage, 
Qui  perds  le  nom  Remain  par  son  propre  langage.''  * 


Thou,  Calvin,  the  scourge  of  the  triple  reign, 
Whose  Latin  pure  destroys  the  Roman  name. 

In  this  verse  he  pretends  only  to  praise  the  elo- 
quence of  Calvin: — eloquence  indeed!  but  an  elo- 
quence divine,  supported  by  the  grandeur  and 
weight  of  its  subjects,  full  of  nerve  and  energy; 
an  eloquence,  neither  gay  and  comic,  like  that  with 
which  Terrence  has  enriched  his  fables ;  nor  stately 
and  brilliant,  like  that  which  Virgil  has  employed 
to  sing  the  battles  and  adventures  of  his  heroes ; 
nor  delicate  and  artificial,  like  that  with  which 
Cicero  enchained  the  Romans,  fastening  them  to 
his  lips; — but,  an  eloquence  like  that  of  the  apostle 
of  nations.  An  eloquence  by  which  this  new  Paul 
shook  the  foundations  of  superb  Rome,  and  reco- 

*  Barclai. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  197 

vered  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Vatican,  the  empire 
of  Europe.  Calvin  imitated  St.  Paul,  as  St.  Paul 
imitated  Jesus  Christ.  Animated  with  an  aposto- 
lic spirit,  he  despised  the  flowers  and  brilliancies 
of  human  eloquence,  and  all  the  pompous  equipage 
of  the  rhetoric  of  the  age.  His  strain,  flowing 
with  soft  and  sober  majesty,  seemed  to  be  adapted 
to  sacred  things  alone. 

He  had  already  displayed  some  sparks  of  this 
light,  when  not  having  yet  "  chosen  the  good  part," 
he  employed  some  of  his  leisure  hours  in  enriching 
with  notes,  the  books  which  Seneca  has  composed 
on  Clemency,  and  dedicated  to  the  most  cruel  of 
emperors.  In  this  essay,  he  announced  what  might 
be  expected  in  future.  His  Commentaries  display 
a  style,  free,  but  exact,  agreeable,  and  majestic; 
simple  and  energetic,  but  pure  and  polished;  mo- 
dest, but  rich ;  briUiant,  but  natural ;  deriving  all 
its  beauties  from  their  proper  sources.  So  that 
Seneca  appears  risen  from  the  dead. 

The  vivacity  and  energy  of  his  genius  are  con- 
spicuous in  his  attacks  upon  the  enemies  of  truth. 
With  what  evidence  and  solidity  he  establishes  his 
reasonings !  How  nobly  he  enriches  his  subjects, 
while  at  the  same  time  there  is  neither  any  afiecta- 
tion,  nor  any  smell  of  the  lamp !  His  stream  of 
mind  appears  to  be  perpetual,  and  pursues  its  course 
with  equal  beauty  and  fertility.  Whoever  wishes 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  force  and  beauty  of  his 
style,  will  find  an  excellent  specimen  in  his  answer 
17* 


198  WHITINGS    OF    CALVIxNf. 

to  Cardinal  Sadolet.  The  dedication  of  his  In- 
stitutes to  Francis  I.  is  also  universally  admired.* 

It  is  no  small  honour  to  Calvin,  that  the  circum- 
stance of  being  born  in  the  later  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity detracts  nothing  from  his  reputation.  Should 
we  here  be  opposed  by  the  names  of  Austin  and  of 
Chrysostom,  we  may  safely  reply,  that  if  Calvin 
had  been  born  in  the  age  of  the  fathers,  he  would 
have  been  one  of  the  most  eminent.  Abating  that 
veneration  which  is  excited  by  antiquity,  our  au- 
thor, it  is  apprehended,  will  not  suffer  by  a  com- 
parison with  these  illustrious  fathers.  To  say  no- 
thing of  the  errors  into  which  the  ancient  fathers 
have  fallen,  it  is  sufficiently  evident,  that  with  re- 
spect to  an  extended  apprehension  of  the  mysteries 
of  Divine  truth,  Calvin  has  surpassed  them  all. 

Should  this  praise  be  charged  with  being  exag- 
gerated, we  refer,  for  a  corroboration  of  it,  to  a 
comparative  view  of  the  writings  of  the  respective 
authors.    St.  Chrysostom  has  explained  the  Psalms. 


*  "  I  have  ever  thought  that  the  three  celebrated  Pre- 
faces, that  which  the  President  de  Thou  wrote  for  his  His- 
tory, that  which  Casaubon  has  prefixed  to  his  Polybius, 
and  that  which  Calvin  has  addressed  to  Francis  I.  king 
of  France,  in  favour  of  his  Christian  Institutes,  must  be 
considered  as  the  masterpieces  of  our  age.  And  in  placing 
that  of  Calvin  in  the  first  rank,  it  appears  to  me  that  not 
only  the  sublimity  and  grandeur  of  the  subject,  but  also 
tiie  excellence  and  beauty,  the  force  and  solidity,  the 
purity  and  elegance  of  the  composition,  oblige  me  to  give 
it  this  preference." — Fanegyrique  de  Calvin,  j^ar  M, 
Alexandre  Mortis, 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  199 

St.  Austin  has  also  written  upon  them.  Calvin, 
after  them,  has  composed  Commentaries  upon 
them.  To  this  comparison  we  refer  the  claims  of 
Calvin,  persuaded  that  every  candid  mind  will  in- 
stantly perceive  the  superiority  of  the  Reformer; 
and  that  the  Preface  to  his  Commentary  on  the 
Psalms  is  alone  worth  their  whole  works.  What 
father  of  the  church  has  left  behind  him  so  com- 
plete an  explication  of  all  the  books  of  sacred 
scripture,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  closing 
Book  of  the  Revelation  ?  "  Joseph  Scaliger,  who 
scarcely  thought  any  man  worth  his  commending, 
could  not  forbear  admiring  Calvin  ;  and  he  praised 
him,  among  other  things,  for  not  commenting  on 
the  Revelations ;  while  he  owned  him  far  the  hap- 
piest of  all  the  commentators  in  apprehending  the 
sense  of  the  prophets."*  And  Pasquier  says, 
"  Calvin  was  a  good  writer,  both  in  Latin  and 
French;  and  our  French  tongue  is  highly  obliged 
to  him  for  enriching  it  with  so  great  a  number  of 
fine  expressions."  f 

The  great  Thuanus,  in  his  admirable  History, 
though  a  Papist,  speaks  highly  of  his  eloquence : 
— *'  Calvin,"  says  he,  "  was  endued  with  great 
acuteness  and  force  of  genius,  and  with  a  wonder- 
ful faculty  of  eloquence ;  a  very  celebrated  divine 
among  the  Protestants*" 

"If,  in  obedience  to  the  impression  made  by  a 
recent  study  of  the  life  and  writings  of  Calvin,  we 

*  Bayle.  t  Biographia  Evangelica. 


200  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

have  sketched  a  too  flattering  outline  of  his  mora] 
lineaments,  the  dissatisfied  spectator  may  wander 
from  our  exhibition  to  examine  a  portrait  drawn 
by  a  Raphael  of  the  Anglican  church  in  the  six- 
teenth century, — a  portrait  familiar  to  all  who 
have  walked  and  studied  in  the  galleries  and 
schools  of  that  church;  and,  whether  faithful  or 
otherwise,  deriving  every  claim  to  patient  and  im- 
partial criticism  from  its  having  proceeded  from 
the  pencil  of  the  great  and  accredited  apologist  of 
our  ecclesiastical  pohty."* 

"  A  founder  it  had,"  (referring  to  the  Genevese 
discipline  established  by  Calvin,)  "  whom,  for  mine 
own  part,  I  think  incomparably  the  wisest  man 
that  ever  the  French  church  did  enjoy,  since  the 
hour  it  enjoyed  him.  His  bringing  up  was  in  the 
study  of  the  civil  law.  Divine  knowledge  he  ga- 
thered not  by  hearing  or  reading,  so  much  as  by 
teaching  others.  For  though  thousands  were  debt- 
ors to  him,  as  touching  knowledge  in  that  kind, 
yet  he  to  none,  but  only  to  God,  the  author  of  that 
most  blessed  fountain,  the  Book  of  Life,  and  of  the 
admirable  dexterity  of  wit,  together  with  the  helps 
of  other  learning  which  were  his  guides." — "  Two 
things  of  principal  moment  there  are  which  have 
deservedly  procured  him  honour  throughout  the 
world  :  the  one,  his  exceeding  pains  in  composing 
the   Institutions   of  the    Christian  Religion;   the 

*  Christian  Observer. — Review  of  Life  and  Institutes 
of  Calvin,  by  Mackenzie  and  Allen. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  201 

Other,  his  no  less  industrious  travels  for  exposition 
of  Holy  Scripture,  according  to  the  same  institu- 
tions. In  which  two  things,  whosoever  they  were 
that  after  him  bestowed  their  labour,  he  gained  the 
advantage  of  prejudice  against  them,  if  they  gain- 
sayed ;  and  of  glory  above  them,  if  they  consented. 
Of  what  account  the  master  of  sentences  was  in 
the  church  of  Rome,  the  same  and  more  amongst 
the  preachers  of  reformed  churches,  Calvin  had 
purchased ;  so  that  the  perfectest  divines  were 
judged  they  who  were  skilfullest  in  Calvin's  wri- 
tings ;  his  books  being  almost  the  very  canon  to 
judge  both  doctrine  and  discipline  by."* 

*'  Is  it  true  or  credible  that  the  man  thus  cha- 
racterized by  Hooker,  at  the  very  time  when  he 
was  constructing  his  immortal  work  against  the 
Genevese  discipline,  is  the  same  individual  whom 
the  majority  of  modern  divines  would  almost  ex- 
communicate from  the  family  and  fellowship  of  Je- 
sus Christ  f  Is  this  he  whom  the  veriest  menials  of 
the  Protestant  hierarchy,  whom  our  very  vergers 
and  apparitors  find  themselves  able  to  refute  with 
a  sneer,  while  their  superiors  are  stultifying  him  in 
the  paragraphs  of  a  pamphlet  ?"f 

In  Dr.  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  and  note  are  added  to  the  origi- 
nal text  of  Mosheim,  by  his  translator,  the  highly 


*  Hooker's  Works,  vol.  I.  pp.  129,  138.     (Oxford, 
1793.) 
t  Christian  Observer, 


202  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

respectable  editor,  Dr.  Maclaine  : — "  To  escape  the 
impending  storm,  he  retired  to  Basil,  where  he 
published  his  Christian  Tastitutions ;  and  prefixed 
to  them  that  famous  dedication  to  Francis  I.  which 
has  attracted  universally  the  admiration  of  succeed- 
ing ages,  and  which  was  designed  to  soften  the  un- 
relenting fury  of  that  prince  against  the  Protes- 
tants."* 

Salmeron  has  copied,  in  his  commentaries,  seve- 
ral passages  from  Calvin,  without  citing  or  changing 
them.     Melancthon  calls  Calvin  the  Theologian, 

He  received  the  praises  of  all  the  great  men  of 
his  age.  It  is  well  known  that  Albert  Pighius, 
who  had  undertaken  the  refutation  of  the  Christian 
Institutes  of  Calvin,  became  a  Calvinist  in  one  of 
his  principal  doctrines. 

Papyre  Masson,  a  declared  enemy  of  the  Protes- 
tants, De  Thou,  Pasquier,  Balzac,  Stapleton,  and 
Father  Simon,  consider  Calvin  a  very  learned  man, 
and  a  great  Theologian.  Nor  was  he  held  in  less 
veneration  by  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  church 
of  England.     Witness  the  exalted  testimonies  given 


*  "  This  paragraph,  relating  to  Calvin,  is  added  to 
Dr.  Mosheim's  text  by  the  translator,  who  was  surprised 
to  find  in  a  History  of  the  Reformation,  such  late  mention 
made  of  one  of  its  most  distinguished  and  remarkable  in- 
struments; a  man  whose  extensive  genius,  flowing  elo- 
quence, immense  learning,  extraordinary  penetration,  in- 
defatigable industry,  and  fervent  piety,  placed  him  at  the 
head  of  the  reformers ;  all  of  whom  he  surpassed  at  least 
in  learning  and  parts." 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  203 

of  him  by  Bishop  Andrews,  Bishop  Bilson,  Mr. 
Hooker,  Bishop  Morton,  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  and 
many  others,  cited  by  Dr.  John  Edwards,  in  his 
Veritas  Redux. 

There  are  many  among  the  Roman  Catholics, 
who  would  do  justice  to  Calvin,  if  they  durst  speak 
their  thoughts.  Guy  Patin  has  taught  us  to  make 
this  judgment ;  for  he  observed,  that  "Joseph  Sca- 
liger  said  Calvin  was  the  greatest  wit  the  world  had 
seen  since  the  apostles.  He  acknowledged  that  no 
man  ever  understood  ecclesiastical  history  like 
Calvin,  who,  at  the  age  of  twenty^two,  was  the 
most  learned  man  in  Europe."*  It  appears  also, 
that  "  Scaliger  preferred  Calvin's  Commentary  on 
Daniel,  to  all  others,  and  that  he  used  commonly 
to  say,  solus  Cahinus  in  Theologicis,^^\  Guy  Patin 
tells  us,  that  "John  de  Monluc,  Bishop  of  Valence, 
used  to  say,  that  Calvin  was  the  greatest  divine  in 
Europe." 

When  we  consider  that  he  has  written  Commen- 
taries on  the  whole  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Book  of 
Revelation  excepted,  we  shall  easily  imagine  that 
they  form  by  far  the  most  considerable  part  of  his 
works.  These  Commentaries  will  ever  be  held  m 
esteem  by  impartial  readers,  for  the  elegant  sim- 
plicity, impartial  inquiry,  and  profound  piety  which 
characterize  them.  In  a  style  admirably  adapted 
and  expressive,  he  expands  without  enfeebling,  il- 

*  Biographia  Britannica. 

t  Histoire  Litteraire  de  Geneve,  par  Jean  Senebier. 


204  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN* 

lustrates  without  lowering,  and  enforces  without 
revolting  the  sense  of  the  sacred  text.  Deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  dignity  and  excellency,  the  divine 
authority  and  various  uses,  of  the  inspired  writings, 
he  investigates  their  contents  with  a  disciplined  un- 
derstanding, and  an  obedient  heart.  His  mind  re- 
volts not  at  the  mysterious  sublimity  of  a  doctrine, 
when  he  has  evidence  that  it  comes  from  God.  No 
command  appears  tyrannical,  because  he  venerates 
the  authority  which  enjoins  it ;  no  precept  irksome, 
because  his  heart,  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ, 
dictates  the  inquiry,  "  Lord,  what  wouldst  thou 
have  me  do .'"'  Superior  to  all  considerations  of 
a  party  nature,  his  expositions  are  truly  liberal, 
and  he  is  not  afraid  to  meet  the  reaZ  sense  of  a  pas- 
sage. Having  in  view  nothing  less  than  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  Church  Universal,  his  Commentaries 
breathe  a  comprehensiveness  of  design,  resembling 
the  liberality  of  the  Sacred  Writings  themselves. 
It  is  not,  however,  to  be  denied,  that  his  views  on 
discipline  and  doctrine  were  fixed  and  decided; 
but  it  is  equally  evident  that,  in  comparison  with 
the  general  interests  of  genuine  Christianity,  he  al- 
lowed himself  to  feel  no  concern  about  the  disputed 
points  of  religion. 

It  requires  but  little  penetration  to  perceive  that 
the  great  object  of  Calvin,  in  all  his  Commentaries, 
was  the  simple  illustration  of  the  sacred  text.  Dis- 
avowing all  authority  but  that  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  calling  no  man  Master  on  earth,  his  investiga- 
tions were  conducted  with  that  spirit  of  free  inquiry 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  205 

and  independence,  which  is  essential  to  the  charac- 
ter and  excellence  of  the  commentator.  Forming 
his  system  from  the  Bible,  he  felt  no  difficulty  with 
regard  to  apparently  conflicting  passages  of  sacred 
writ ;  which  he  was  not  at  all  concerned  to  recon- 
cile with  a  previously  assumed  system. 

Though  Calvin  was  extensively  known  and  read 
as  a  commentator,  the  work  which  did  him  most 
honour,  and  procured  him  the  greatest  celebrity, 
was  his  "  Christian  Institutions  ;"  a  work  written 
in  defence  of  the  Protestants,  and  intended  by  its 
author  to  be  a  complete  system  of  theology. 

The  Inquisitions  at  Rome,  and  in  Spain,  con- 
demned this  work :  but  it  met  with  great  accepta- 
tion, and  has  not  only  appeared  in  French,  but  also 
in  High  Dutch,  Low  Dutch,  Italian,  Spanish,  and 
English.  And  the  following  celebrated  distich 
contains  the  character  which  it  bore  among  his 
contemporaries  of  the  reformed  religion ; 

"  Prseter  apostolicas,  post  Christi  tempora  chartas, 
Huic  peperere  libro  ssecula  nulla  parem.''* 

The  sentiments  of  Calvin  being  very  imperfectly 
understood,  even  by  Calvinists  themselves,  it  may 
perhaps  answer  a  useful  purpose  to  lay  before  the 
public  a  view  of  genuine  Calvinism. 

This  object,  it  is  apprehended,  will  be  best  ac- 
complished by  laying  before  the  reader  some  co- 

*.That  is, — "  Since  the  ascension  of  Christ,  no  age 
has  produced  a  book  of  equal  worth,  if  we  omit  the 
writings  of  the  apostles." 

18 


206  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

pious  extracts  from  the  "  Christian  Institutions," 
which  contain  an  arranged  statement  of  this  Re- 
former's views  on  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of 
Christianity.  It  is  a  just  character  of  this  work, 
that  nothing  calculated  to  recommend  a  book  is 
wanting  to  it.  The  perspicuity  so  much  required 
of  authors,  is  here  as  great  as  it  can  possibly  be. 
There  is  nothing  to  embarrass  the  reader.  Every 
thing  is  explained  with  perfect  evidence.  Whether 
it  be  necessary  to  establish  holy  doctrines,  or  to  re- 
fute error,  Calvin  accomplishes  it  with  a  depth  and 
solidity,  united  with  a  vivacity  and  address  inimita- 
ble. The  comparisons  which  he  employs  are  beau- 
tiful and  majestic,  and  at  the  same  time  so  lively 
and  ingenious,  that  they  give  a  palpable  evidence 
to  his  explanations  and  persuasions.  The  descrip- 
tions with  which  his  work  abounds,  are  not  less  just 
than  magnificent,  always  adapted  to  the  subjects  he 
is  treating,  and  the  situations  which  they  occupy. 
His  transitions  are  every  where  easy  and  natural.* 
This  incomparable  work  is  divided  into  four 
books.  The  first  book,  containing  eighteen  chap- 
ters, treats  Of  the  Knowledge  of  God  the  Creator, 
The  second.  Of  the  Knowledge  of  God  as  he  hath 
declared  himself  our  Redeemer  in  Jesus  Christ — 
seventeen  chapters.  The  third.  Of  the  manner  of 
j)articipating  of  the  Grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  the 
Fruits  which  ive  derive  from  it,  and  the  Effects  which 
it  produces — twenty-five  chapters.     The  fourth,  and 

*  Epitre  Dedicatoire,  par  Charles  Icard. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  207 

last,  treats  Of  the  external  means  or  helps  ivhich 
God  employs  to  invite  us  to  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  and 
to  retain  us  in  his  Communion — twenty  chapters. 

"  A  leading  excellence  of  Calvin's  body  of  di- 
vinity appears  to  us  to  be  this,  that  every  doctrine 
is  considered  as  a  principle,  and  not  as  a  mere  sen- 
timent; and  that  every  application  of  such  doc- 
trine is  not  addressed  in  certain  general  and  indis- 
tinct terms  to  the  Christian  community  at  large, 
but  rendered  personal  and  individual.  Far  from 
suffering  any  article  of  the  creed  to  sleep  in  the  un- 
derstanding as  a  quiescent  theory,  one  practical  in- 
quiry is  found  to  be  perpetually  emerging  from  the 
deeps  of  argumentation.  The  student  is  constantly 
excited  to  inquire,  what  should  be  the  fruit  of  all 
this  discussion  ;  the  living  daily  consequence  to  him- 
self. On  this  account,  there  is  some  difficulty  in 
supposing  that  the  study  of  the  undisputed  points 
of  the  gospel,  in  the  writings  of  this  divine,  can  be 
attractive  to  any  but  those  who  are  afraid  of  giving 
a  cold  and  unproductive  assent  to  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ;  who  are  afraid  of  lowering  into  intellectual 
speculation,  what  ought  to  form  the  lives,  and  spi- 
ritualize the  souls  of  immortals  ;  and  wiw,  instead 
of  consuming  their  days  in  efforts  to  measure  what 
no  efforts  of  theirs  can  measure,  are  anxious  to  un- 
derstand what  is  intelligible,  and  what  is  necessary 
to  their  salvation.  It  should  be  observed,  in  com- 
mon justice  to  Calvin,  that  his  very  highest  notions 
of  absolute  decrees  are,  by  his  own  representations, 


208  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

as  entirely  practical  in  their  results  as  any  opinion 
gathered  from  the  Decalogue;  that  he  himself 
would  be  the  last  man  to  defend  the  religion  of  a 
licentious  predestinarian ;  nay^that  he  would  utterly 
deny  any  such  character  to  be  possessed  of  a  par- 
ticle of  genuine  faith ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  would 
view  him  as  a  practical  Atheist,  whose  speculations 
about  grace  were  only  a  species  of  more  elaborate 
blasphem}'." 

"  Another  excellence  of  the  Institutes  consists  in 
their  author's  uniform  appeal  to  the  decisions  of 
scripture.  "  To  this  infallible  guide  he  resorted; 
and,  if  he  misunderstood,  darkened,  or  perverted 
what  he  found  in  the  Bible,  he  uniformly  says, 
'  There  is  my  doctrine,  and  here  is  its  authority;' 
than  which  nothing  can  be  a  more  simple  and  Chris- 
tian method  of  proceeding.  It  is  referring  the  ob- 
jector from  the  deduction  to  the  principle,  and  in- 
viting him  to  examine,  not  only  the  process  of  the 
reasoner's  logic,  but  the  truth  of  the  premises  with 
which  he  seiz  out,  and  of  the  conclusions  at  which 
he  arrives.  How  different  is  this  appeal  to  the 
common  standard  of  the  Christian  world,  from  the 
fides  carhonaria  of  such  Papists,  or  papal  Protest- 
ants, as  grope  in  voluntary  darkness  amidst  the 
noon-day  blaze  of  revelation!" 

''  A  Catholic  collier  was  once  asked, — '  What  do 
you  believe?'  What  the  church  believes. — '  And 
what  does  the  church  believe?'  What  I  believe. — 
*  And  what  do  you  both  believQ  ?'     Why  ive  both  be-- 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  209 

lieve  the  same  thing. — Hence  the  expression,  Jides 
carbonaria,  i.  e.  the  faith  of  a  collier."* 


On  the  Knowledge  of  a  God —  This    Knowledge 
greatly  corrupted. 

On  the  knowledge  of  a  God,  the  subject  with 
which  this  incomparable  work  commences,  we  meet 
with  the  following  judicious  remarks  : — "  By  the 
knowledge  of  a  God,  I  understand  a  knowledge 
which  not  only  enables  us  to  conceive  that  there 
is  a  God,  but  which  also  teaches  us  whatever  it  is 
important  for  us  to  know,  with  reference  either  to 
our  own  interest  or  to  his  glory.  For  to  speak 
correctly,  we' cannot  say  that  God  is  known  where 
there  is  neither  piety  nor  religion.  I  am  not  here 
speaking  of  that  peculiar  knowledge,  by  means  of 
which  men,  lost  and  condemned  in  a  state  of  na- 
ture, are  led  to  God,  as  to  their  Redeemer  in  Je- 
sus Christ:  I  speak  merely  of  that  primitive  and 
simple  knowledge,  to  which  the  natural  order  of 
the  world  would  lead  us,  had  Adam  continued  in 
his  integrity.  For  although  in  this  universal  wreck 
of  human  nature,  no  person  knows  God,  either  as 
a  Father,  or  as  the  author  of  salvation,  or  in  any 
sense  propitious,  or  appeased,  unless  Jesus  Christ 

*  Christian  Observer.  Review  of  Life  and  Institutes 
of  Calvin.     By  Mackenzie  and  Allen. 

18* 


210  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

intervene  as  Mediator  to  render  him  favourable  to 
us,  and  to  reconcile  us  to  him ;  nevertheless,  to 
know  God  as  our  Creator,  and  as  that  Being  who 
sustains  us  by  his  influence,  who  governs  us  by 
his  providence,  who  preserves  us  by  his  goodness, 
and  who  loads  us  with  his  blessings  ;  to  know  him, 
I  say,  thus,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  embracing 
the  blessing  of  reconciliation,  as  it  is  offered  to  us 
through  Jesus  Christ  in  the  gospel. 

"  And  as  our  mind  is  incapable  of  rising  to  the 
knowledge  of  a  God,  without  ascribing  to  him  some 
kind  of  worship,  it  is  not,  however,  sufficient  to 
know  in  general,  that  it  is  he  alone  who  deserves 
to  be  adored  and  served,  if  we  are  not  besides 
firmly  persuaded  that  he  is  the  source  of  all  good, 
so  as  not  to  seek  any  thing  separately  from  him. 
Thus,  I  think  that  we  ought  not  only  to  believe 
that  God,  having  created  the  >vorld,  sustains  it  by 
his  power,  rules  it  by  his  wisdom,  preserves  it  by 
his  goodness,  and  is  especially  engaged  in  govern- 
ing the  human  race  with  equity,  in  supporting 
them  by  his  mercy,  in  taking  them  under  his  pro- 
tection ;  but  we  must  also  be  persuaded  that  there 
is  not  a  single  spark  of  light,  of  wisdom,  of  justice, 
of  power,  of  rectitude,  or  of  truth  to  be  found  any 
where  but  in  him,  or  proceeding  from  him,  and  of 
which  he  is  not  the  cause ;  which  should  instruct 
us  to  expect  them  all  from  him  alone,  to  solicit 
them  all  at  his  hands,  and  to  return  him  our  un- 
feigned thanks  when  we  have  received  them.  I 
consider  piety  as  a  mingled  reverence  and  love  of 


,j..* 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  211 

God,  to  which  we  are  led  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
favour  which  we  have  received  from  him.  If  men 
do  not,  indeed,  feel  and  acknowledge  that  they  owe 
every  thing  to  God,  that  they  are  tenderly  pre- 
served by  his  paternal  care,  and  that  he  is  the  au- 
thor of  all  good,  so  that  they  need  not  seek  any 
thing  out  of  him  ;  if  they  do  not  make  all  their  fe- 
licity to  consist  in  him  alone,  they  will  never  ren- 
der him  a  willing  obedience,  nor  will  they  ever 
frankly  and  heartily  submit  to  render  unto  him  the 
service  which  is  his  due."* 

How  differently  is  this  interesting  subject  here 
treated,  from  the  manner  in  which  philosophers 
have  speculated  upon  the  being  and  perfections  of 
a  God !  For  this  pre-eminence  in  clearness  and  in- 
terest, our  author  was  certainly  indebted  to  revela- 
tion, an  authority  to  which  he  bowed  with  the  most 
implicit  reverence,  and  a  source  of  information 
which  has  enlightened  and  enriched  the  Christian 
world  with  knowledge  on  subjects  of  the  last  im- 
portance to  the  present  and  perpetual  interests  of 
mankind. 

That  the  knowledge  of  a  God  is  naturally  im- 
printed in  the  mind  of  man,  is  maintained  by  our 
author,  in  the  following  words : — "  Lest  any  should 
cloak  themselves  under  a  vain  pretext  of  ignorance, 
God  hath  engraved  on  the  hearts  of  all  men,  some 
knowledge  of  himself,  with  which  he  continually 
refreshes  the  memory  by  new  sparks  of  light,  which 

*  Instit.  lib.  i.  cap.  2. 


212  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

he  causes  to  shine  there  from  time  to  time  ;  that  all 
men,  without  exception,  may  be  condemned  by 
their  own  testimony,  for  not  having  honoured  and 
served  him  by  consecrating  their  lives  in  obedi- 
ence to  him.  If  ignorance  of  a  God  were  any 
where  to  be  found,  we  should  naturally  expect  to 
meet  with  it  amongst  those  barbarous  nations,  en- 
tirely removed  from  honesty,  from  civilization,  and 
from  humanity  itself;  nor  could  we  produce  an 
example  more  appropriate  or  precise.  However, 
as  Cicero,  that  ancient  Pagan  author,  so  celebra- 
ted for  his  eloquence,  remarks,  '  There  is  no  na- 
tion so  barbarous,  nor  any  people  so  savage,  upon 
whose  minds  it  is  not  forcibly  impressed,  that  there 
is  a  God.'  And  those  who  in  every  thing  else, 
appear  to  differ  in  no  respects  from  beasts,  do  not, 
however,  fail  to  retain  some  seeds  of  religion.  So 
extensively  hath  this  common  and  natural  prepos- 
session pervaded  the  minds  of  all  men. 

"  Thus,  since  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
there  never  was  any  country,  town,  or  family,  that 
could  dispense  with  religion,  does  it  not  amount 
to  a  tacit  confession  of  the  whole  human  race,  that 
the  belief  of  a  Divinity  is  engraved  on  the  hearts 
of  all  reasonable  creatures?  Idolatry  itself,  into 
which  men  have  fallen,  is  an  authentic  testimony  to 
this  truth.  For  we  know  with  what  reluctance 
man  stoops  and  humbles  himself  to  place  other 
creatures  above  himself.  Since,  then,  he  rather 
submits  to  serve  and  to  adore  wood  and  stone,  than 
to  pass  for  an  impious  person  or  an  atheist,  it  follows 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN,  213 

evidently,  that  the  impression  is  lively  and  strong-, 
that  it  can  never  be  effaced,  and  that  it  would  even 
be  easier  to  extinguish  the  most  natural  affections, 
than  the  sentiment  of  piety  and  of  religion."* 

While  it  is  true  that  the  excellency  of  an  argu- 
ment, or  the  goodness  of  a  cause,  ought  never  to 
be  concluded  from  the  numbers  by  w  hich  they  may 
happen  to  be  supported ;  it  is  nevertheless  certain, 
that  in  some  cases,  universal  consent  furnishes  the 
strongest  presumptive  evidence  of  the  truth  and 
importance  of  general  principles.  Thus,  the  vari- 
ous worship  of  the  heathen  nations,  uncongenial 
indeed  with  the  dictates  of  reason,  and  incompati- 
ble with  the  more  luminous  institutions  of  the  gos- 
pel, contains  an  implicit  acknowledgment  of  the 
responsibility  of  all  intelligent  beings,  and  of  the 
existence  and  operation  of  natural  conscience, 
which,  in  the  absence  of  revelation,  is  considered 
by  the  apostle  as  the  present  law,  and  future  rule 
of  judgment  of  the  heathen.  It  is  possible,  and 
indeed  to  a  high  degree  probable,  that  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  most  heathen  nations  owe  their  origin 
to  the  institutions  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  of 
which  they  are  only  corruptions  gradually  intro- 
duced ;  but  their  adoption  and  continued  use,  as 
they  include  the  recognition  of  a  Supreme  Being, 
and  a  sense  of  human  responsibility,  while  they  il- 
lustrate the  congeniality  of  these  truths,  with  the 
undisguised   feelings  of  the  human  mind,  contain 

*  Instit.  lib.  i.  cap.  3. 


214  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

also  the  authority  of  a  sanction,  as  well  as  the  evi- 
dence of  an  unsuspicious  consent. 

But  while  the  existence  of  this  sentiment,  being 
universal,  is  too  obvious  to  be  denied,  it  is  equally 
evident  that  it  exists  under  a  most  degraded  form  ;  a 
truth  which  our  author  asserts  in  the  following  ex- 
pressive words : — "  As  experience  shews  us  on  the 
one  hand  that  there  is  in  the  hearts  of  all  men  a  seed 
of  religion,  which  the  Divinity  hath  scattered  there 
with  his  own  hand  ;  so  it  teaches  us  also  on  the 
other  hand,  that  scarcely  one  person  in  a  hundred 
encourages  this  divine  seed  in  his  soul,  to  make  it 
germinate  there.  For  while  some  are  bewildered  in 
the  follies  of  superstition,  and  others  abandon  God 
with  a  formal  design  and  deliberate  malice,  from 
various  motives  all  wander  and  retire  from  the  true 
knowledge  of  him.  This  is  also  the  reason  why 
we  meet  with  no  legitimate  or  well  regulated 
piety."* 

In  the  sixth  chapter  our  author  contends,  that  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  God  as  a  Cre- 
ator, we  must  make  the  Scriptures  our  guide ;  in 
illustration  of.  which,  he  employs  the  following  rea- 
soning : — "  Although  that  light  which  is  so  univer- 
sally diffused,  is  more  than  sufficient  to  remove  every 
pretext  for  the  ingratitude  of  men ;  it  is,  notwith- 
standing, necessary,  that  a  more  powerful  help  in- 
tervene to  lead  us  suitably  even  to  the  Creator.  It 
is  not,   therefore,  in  vain,  that  God,  in  order  to 

*  Instit,  lib.  i.  cap.  4. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIX.  215 

make  himself  known  in  a  saving  manner,  hath 
added  to  the  works  of  creation  the  light  of  his  word.'^ 
and  that  he  hath  indulged  with  this  prerogative 
those  whom  he  determined  to  treat  with  more  fami- 
liarity than  others.  Having  elected  the  Jews,  in 
order  to  make  of  them  a  peculiar  people  conse- 
crated to  his  service,  he  enclosed  them  in  a  fold, 
lest  they  should  wander  after  the  manner  of  other 
nations.  Thus,  whether  God  manifested  himself 
to  the  ancient  fathers,  by  means  of  oracles,  or  of 
heavenly  visions,  or  employed  men  by  whose  mi- 
nistry he  suggested  what  they  were  to  convey  by 
tradition  to  their  posterity,  it  is  absolutely  certain 
that  he  impressed  upon  their  minds  so  firm  a  belief 
of  his  doctrine,  that  they  were  fully  convinced,  that 
what  was  revealed  or  preached  to  them,  came  from 
heaven  alone.  But,  that  his  doctrine  might  ever 
continue  in  the  world,  and  be  maintained  in  its 
purity  in  all  ages,  he  appointed  that  those  oracles 
which  he  had  from  the  beginning  committed  to  the 
tradition  of  men,  should  be  at  length  reduced  to 
writing,  and  enclosed  in  the  Scriptures,  as  in  a  sa- 
cred cabinet,  in  which  the  precious  deposit  might 
be  preserved  entire,  in  the  midst  of  those  changes 
and  confusions  which  are  continually  taking  place 
throughout  the  universe.  With  this  view  he  caused 
his  law  to  be  published  amongst  the  Israelites,  to 
which  he  afterwards  added  the  writings  of  the  pro- 
phets, as  so  many  interpretations  of  his  will. 

"  If  we  consider  how  inconsistent  and  variable 
is  the  mind  of  man,  how  easily  he  falls  into  forget- 


216  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

fulness  of  God,  how  great  is  his  natural  inclination 
tto  embrace  all  sorts  of  errors,  and  how  strong  his 
passion  for  new  and  false  religions,  it  will  be  evi- 
dent how  necessary  it  is  that  God  should  have 
public  and  authentic  registers,  in  which  the  whole 
of  his  salutary  doctrine  might  be  contained,  lest  it 
should  be  either  buried  in  forgetfulness,  or  over- 
turned by  error,  or  corrupted  by  the  audacity  of 


Of  the  State  in  which  Man  was  created. 

The  state  in  which  man  was  originally  created; 
is  a  subject  which  has  given  rise  to  a  great  variety 
of  speculation  and  controversy;  and  it  must  strike 
every  impartial  person,  that  in  the  management  of 
this  interesting  inquiry,  barren  speculation,  and  in 
some  instances  a  tendency  to-levity,  have  been  too 
apparent  in  many  writers,  who  have,  notwithstand- 
ing, professed  to  limit  their  inquiries  by  ultimate 
views  of  scripture  authority.  The  manner  in  which 
our  author  pursues  the  subject,  is  in  unison  with 
his  grand  and  comprehensive  views  of  scripture 
truth  in  general.  Those  who  study  theology  with 
a  reference  to  practical  improvement,  will  be  gra- 
tified with  the  useful  manner  in  which  this  great 
theologian  treats  so  interesting  a  subject.     ''  We 

*  Instit.  lib.  i.  cap.  6. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  217 

must  now  gpeak,"  says  he,  "  of  the  creation  of 
man; — First,  because  man  is  the  most  noble  and 
excellent  master-piece  of  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  God ;  and,  secondly,  because,  as  we  have 
already  said,  we  can  have  no  true  and  solid  know- 
ledge of  the  Divinity,  if  the  knowledge  of  ourselves 
be  not  reciprocally  connected  with  it.  Now  this 
knowledge  of  ourselves  is  twofold,  and  consists  in 
knowing, — first,  the  manner  in  which  we  were  ori- 
ginally formed ;  and,  secondly,  into  what  misery 
we  fell,  after  the  lapse  of  our  first  father :  for,  in- 
deed, we  should  derive  little  advantage  from  our 
creation,  if  in  that  sad  and  fatal  ruin  into  which 
we  have  precipitated  ourselves,  we  were  not  to 
perceive  the  corruption  and  deformity  of  our  na- 
ture. We  shall,  however,  now  consider  the  state  of 
innocence  in  which  we  were  created. 

"  Previously,  however,  to  the  examination  of 
that  miserable  condition  to  which  man  is  subjected 
by  his  revolt,  it  is  essential  to  know  what  he  was 
when  first  created.  And  here  it  will  be  proper  to 
use  caution,  that  in  representing  too  minutely  the 
natural  evils  of  man,  we  do  not  impute  them  to  the 
author  of  his  nature.  For  impiety  will  endeavour 
to  shelter  itself  under  the  pretext,  that  all  evil  pro- 
ceeds in  some  manner  from  God.  Those  persons 
even,  who  wish  to  pass  in  the  world  for  religious 
characters,  and  w  ho  speak  of  the  Divinity  in  more 
respectful  terms,  attempt  thus  to  excuse  their  sins. 
They  allege  the  corruption  of  their  nature,  without 
considering  that  they  tarnish  by  this  means,  though 
19 


218  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

ill  an  indirect  manner,  the  honour  of  God,  whose 
glory  would  be  covered  with  reproach,  if  in  the 
nature  which  he  gave  originally  to  man  there  had 
been  any  vice  or  imperfection. 

"  We  must,  however,  remark,  that  Adam  was 
formed  of  the  earth,  to  keep  him  from  indulging 
pride,  and  rising  above  his  condition.  For  since 
we  inhabit  houses  of  clay,  and  are  but  dust  and 
ashes,  how  apparent  is  the  folly  of  boasting  of  the 
excellency  of  our  nature!"* 


On  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul, 

On  the  immortality  of  the  soul, — a  doctrine, 
ivhich,  while  it  confers  upon  a  future  state  all  its 
interesting  attractions,  diminishes  in  proportion  the 
temporary  and  evanescent  gratifications  of  the  pre- 
sent,— our  author  uses  the  following  just  and  ex- 
pressive language : — "  That  there  are  in  man  two 
different  parts,  a  soul  and  a  body,  is  evident  be- 
yond the  smallest  doubt.  By  the  word  Soul,  I  un- 
derstand, an  immortal,  but  created  essence,  the 
most  noble  and  excellent  part  of  human  nature, 
and  which  the  Scriptures  sometimes  call  Spirit. 
For  though  these  two  names  when  joined  together 
have  a  different  signification,  the  word  spirit,  when 
used  separately,  has  the  same  import  as  that  of  soul; 

*  Instit.  hb.  i.  cap.  15, 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIiN.  219 

as  when  Solomon,  speaking  of  death,  says,  '  Then 
shall  the  spirit  return  unto  God  who  gave  it.'  And 
Jesus  Christ,  by  commending  his  spirit  to  God  his 
Father,  (as  well  as  Stephen  to  Jesus  Christ,)  in- 
tends simply,  that  when  the  soul  quits  the  prison  of 
the  body,   God  is  its  guardian  and  depositary. 

"  As  to  those  who  imagine  that  the  soul  is  thus 
called  spirit,  because  it  is  simply  a  breath,  or  a  vi- 
gour divinely  infused  into  the  body,  without  having 
in  itself  any  substance,  the  truth  of  the  thing  itself, 
and  the  Scriptures  at  large,  evidently  shew  how 
grossly  they  impose  upon  themselves.  The  con- 
science, by  distinguishing  between  good  and  evil, 
corresponding  to  the  judgment  of  God,  furnishes 
a  certain  and  infallible  proof  that  the  spirit  is  im- 
mortal. For  how  should  a  simple  motion,  without 
essence,  penetrate  even  to  the  tribunal  of  God,  and 
alarm  us  on  account  of  the  condemnation  which  we 
have  merited?  Can  the  body  be  susceptible  of  the 
fear  of  a  spiritual  punishment f  Who  does  not  per- 
ceive that  such  a  sentiment  belongs  to  the  soul 
alone  ?  From  whence  it  follows  clearly,  that  the 
soul  is  neither  without  essence,  nor  a  particular 
subsistence. 

"  Secondly,  the  knowledge  which  we  have  of 
God,  testifies  that  the  soul  which  rises  above  the 
world,  must  be  immortal.  For,  can  a  feeble  in- 
spiration without  subsistence,  a  vigour  capable  of 
becoming  extinct  and  of  vanishing,  be  considered 
as  capable  of  rising  to  the  source  of  life. '^  Indeed, 
so  many  rare  and  excellent  qualities,  with  which 


220  WJIITINGS    OF    CALVm. 

the  human  soul  is  ornamented,  and  which  clearly 
shew  that  there  are  I  know  not  what  characters  ot- 
divinity  deeply  impressed  upon  it,  are  also  evident 
testimonies  of  its  immortality.  For  the  instinct  o(- 
brutes  is  limited  to  their  bodies,  or  extends  no  far- 
ther than  the  objects  which  present  themselves  to 
their  sensuality.  But  the  activity  of  the  human 
spirit,  which  traverses  heaven  and  earth, — pene- 
trates into  the  secrets  of  nature,  and  after  having 
embraced  all  the  varieties  of  the  universe  in  its  un- 
derstanding and  memory,  disposes  each  of  them 
in  its  order,  and  according  to  its  rank,  and  ascer- 
tains things  future  from  those  which  are  passed, — 
shews  evidently  that  there  is  in  man  a  secret  and 
hidden  quality  distinct  and  different  from  his  body. 
By  our  understanding,  w^e  conceive  of  God,  and  of 
angels,  who  are  spiritual  and  invisible  substances, 
which  in  no  respect  applies  to  the  body.  We  dis- 
tinguish what  is  right,  just,  and  honest,  from  what 
is  not  so,  which  our  corporal  senses  are  incapable 
of;  the  mind  must,  therefore,  be  the  seat  where 
this  intelligence  resides.  Even  sleep  itself,  the  em- 
blem of  death,  is  an  express  witness  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.  For  it  not  only  suggests  thoughts 
and  conceptions  of  what  has  never  taken  place,  but 
affords  also  presentiments  and  presages  of  things 
yet  to  come.  I  briefly  touch  these  subjects,  which 
profane  writers  have  set  off  with  magnificence  and 
exquisite  eloquence;  but  it  is  sufficient  simply  to 
indicate  them  to  Christian  readers. 

"  Besides  which,  if  the  soul,  separated  from  the 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  221 

body,  had  no  subsistence,  the  Scriptures  would  not 
teach  us,  as  they  do,  that  we  dwell  in  houses  of 
clay,  and  that  man  at  death  is  unclothed  of  mor- 
tality, and  will  receive,  at  the  last  day,  that  which 
is  due  to  the  good  or  bad  actions  done  in  the  body. 
Now  these  passages,  and  others  of  the  same  kind, 
which  are  very  numerous,  not  only  distinguish  the 
soul  from  the  body,  but  in  attributing  to  it  the 
name  of  man  in  general,  they  also  declare  the  soul 
to  be  the  principal  part.  St.  Paul,  exhorting  the 
faithful  to  cleanse  themselves  from  all  filthiness  of 
flesh  and  of  spirit,  refers  without  hesitation  to  two 
subjects,  in  which  the  pollutions  of  sin  reside.  St. 
Peter  also,  calling  Jesus  Christ  the  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  sotds,  would  have  spoken  unadvisedly 
if  there  were  no  souls  towards  whom  he  exercised 
such  a  function. 

"  What  he  says  also  of  the  salvation  of  our  souls 
would  be  ill  founded,  as  well  as  what  he  commands 
us — '  As  strangers  and  pilgrims,  to  abstain  from 
fleshly  lusts,  which  war  against  the  soul.'  The 
same  remark  applies  to  what  we  read  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews,  that,  pastors  watch  for  our  souls 
as  they  that  must  give  account;  which  would  in 
no  respect  be  suitable,  if  souls  possessed  no  exist- 
ence proper  to  them. 

**  This  is  more  fully  and  more  clearly  expressed 
in  those  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  which  he  com- 
mands us  to  *  fear  him,  who,  after  having  killed  the 
body,  is  able  also  to  cast  soul  and  body  into  hell.* 
Add  to  this,  that  if  souls  delivered  from  the  fetters 
19* 


222  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

of  the  body,  had  no  subsistence  after  that  separa- 
tion, it  is  with  great  impropriety  that  Jesus  Christ 
represents  the  soul  of  Lazarus  as  enjoying  repose 
and  felicity  in  Abraham's  bosom  ;  and  on  the  con- 
trary, that  of  the  rich  man  as  plunged  in  the  tor- 
ments of  hell.  But  not  to  insist  any  longer  upon 
a  thing  so  little  doubtful,  I  shall  only  add  that  St. 
Luke  places  it  among  the  errors  of  the  Sadduceans, 
that  they  believed,  that  there  was  no  resurrection^ 
nor  angel,  nor  sjfirit.^^* 


The  Sentiments  of  Calvin  on  the  Moral  Law. 

The  sentiments  of  Calvin,  with  reference  to  the 
law,  having  in  modern  times  been  considerably  per- 
verted, it  may  answer  a  useful  purpose  to  produce 
his  own  words  on  the  subject;  which,  as  they  will 
appear  decidedly  opposed  to  the  Antinomian  he- 
resy, will  deprive  its  abettors  of  the  sanction  of  his 
name.  On  the  dignity  and  use  of  the  law,  no  wri- 
ter can  have  more  just  sentiments,  as  will  fully  ap- 
pear by  extracts  from  his  writings  on  the  subject. 

"It  will  not  be  difficult,"  he  observes,  "  to  judge,  ^ 
to  what  end  the  law  ought  to  be  referred,  which  is 
that  of  a  perfect  righteousness  ;  that  man  may  take 
the  purity  and  holiness  of  God  for  the  rule  of  life. 
For  God  has  so  portrayed  his  nature  in  the  law, 

*  Instit.  lib.  i.  cap.  15. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  223 

that  if  any  person  were  to  accomplish  all  that  it 
commands,  his  life  would  be  an  image  of  the  Di- 
vinity. On  which  accomit,  Moses,  desirous  of  im- 
pressing the  minds  of  the  Israelites  with  the  remem- 
brance of  the  commandments  of  God,  thus  ad- 
dresses them :  '  And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the 
Lord  thy  God  require  of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord 
thy  God,  to  walk  in  all  his  ways,  and  to  love  him, 
and  to  serve  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul?'  Nor  did  he  fail  to  repeat 
the  same  thing  whenever  he  wished  to  shew  them 
the  tendency  of  the  law.  The  end,  therefore,  of 
the  law  is  to  unite  man  by  holiness  of  life  to  his 
Creator ;  and,  as  Moses  in  another  place  expresses 
it,  to  induce  him  to  cleave  unto  him.  The  perfec- 
tion of  this  holiness  consists  in  two  things,  which 
have  been  already  noticed;  that  we  love  the  Lord 
our  God  with  all  our  heart,  with  all  our  soul,  and 
with  all  our  strength — and  our  neighbour  as  our- 
selves. The  first  implies  then,  that  our  soul  be 
filled  with  the  love  of  God;  from  whence  will  na- 
turally flow  charity  towards  our  neighbour.  In 
this  sense  I  understand  the  apostle,  where  he  says, 
that  '  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  charity  out  of 
a  pure  heart,  a  good  conscience,  and  faith  un- 
feigned ;'  where  we  see  that  a  good  conscience  and 
faith,  that  is  to  say,  piet}^,  and  the  fear  of  God,  is 
placed  in  the  first  rank,  from  whence  springs  cha- 
rity. 

"  It  is,  therefore,  absurd  to  imagine  that  the  law 
teaches  only  the  rudiments  of  righteousness,  and 


224  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

gives  men  only  the  first  elements,  without  direct- 
ing them  to  the  perfection  of  good  works ;  since  it 
is  not  possible  to  desire  a  higher  perfection  than 
that  which  is  comprehended  in  this  passage  of  Mo- 
ses, and  that  of  St.  Paul.  And  indeed,  he  who  is 
dissatisfied  with  such  teaching,  what  more  excellent 
or  more  perfect  aim  can  he  have,  since  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  law  forms  man  to  the  fear  of  God,  to 
the  spiritual  worship  of  his  majesty,  to  the  obser- 
vance of  his  precepts,  to  the  rectitude  of  his  justice, 
to  the  holiness  of  his  ways,  to  purity  of  conscience, 
to  sincerity  of  faith,  and,  indeed,  to  all  the  duties 
of  charity. 

"And  this  reason  confirms  the  explanation  which 
we  have  given,  in  reducing  to  the  commandments 
of  the  law,  all  the  duties  which  respect  piety  or 
charity.  So  that  those  who  stop  at  I  know  not 
what  dry  and  barren  elements,  as  if  the  law  taught 
the  will  of  God  only  by  halves,  do  not  thoroughly 
understand,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  apos- 
tle, the  end  to  which  it  refers."* 

"  It  is  easy  to  perceive  what  we  ought  to  learn 
from  the  law,  that  God,  being  our  Creator,  stands 
related  to  us  as  our  Lord  and  our  Father;  on 
which  account  we  ought  to  render  the  glory,  reve- 
rence, love,  and  fear,  due  unto  him;  that  we  are 
not  at  liberty  to  follow  the  wanderings  of  our  mind, 
and  the  disorderly  propensities  of  our  hearts,  where- 
ever  they  would  lead  us ;  that  we  depend  so  en- 

*  Instit.  lib.  ii.  cap.  8. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  225 

tirely  upon  God,  that  we  ought  to  devote  ourselves 
exclusively  to  what  is  pleasing  unto  him;  that 
righteousness  and  integrity  are  ever  acceptable 
unto  him;  that,  on  the  contrary,  iniquity  and  in- 
justice are  held  in  abomination  by  him.  So  that, 
if  we  would  not  by  an  impious  and  profane  ingra- 
titude, revolt  from  our  Creator,  we  must  through- 
out the  whole  of  our  days,  love  righteousiiess,  and 
apply  ourselves  to  the  performance  of  its  duties. 
Nor  can  man  excuse  himself  under  the  pretext  of 
incompetency,  and  of  being  a  miserable  debtor, 
unable  to  make  any  payment.  For  it  is  by  no 
means  proper  to  measure  the  glory  of  God  by  the 
faculties  of  our  nature ;  since  whatever  we  may  be, 
God  is  ever  like  himself,  always  the  friend  of  righ- 
teousness, as  he  is  always  the  enemy  of  iniquity. 
Whatever  he  requires  of  us,  since  he  can  require 
nothing  unjust,  it  is  evident  that  we  are  under  a 
necessity  of  obeying  him  by  a  natural  obligation, 
and  that  our  incapability  proceeds  from  no  other 
cause  than  our  vicious  corruption. 

"  When  by  means  of  the  teachings  of  the  law, 
we  have  arrived  at  this  knowledge,  we  must  then, 
under  the  conduct  of  this  legal  doctrine,  descend 
into  ourselves.  From  which  we  shall  derive  two 
advantages: — First,  by  comparing  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  law  with  our  own  lives,  we  shall  per- 
ceive that  we  are  infinitely  distant  from  satisfying 
the  will  of  God;  and  that  we  are  consequently  un- 
worthy of  being  of  the  number  of  his  creatures, 
and  especially  of  deserving  to  bear  the  glorious 


226  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

title  of  his  children.  Farther,  by  considering  our 
powers,  we  shall  be  convinced,  not  only  that  they 
are  insufficient  to  fulfil  the  requirements  of  the  law, 
but  absolutely  null  and  incapable  of  such  an  effect. 
From  whence  proceeds  necessarily  a  jealousy  of 
ourselves,  followed  by  terrible  inquietudes.  For 
conscience  is  no  sooner  convinced  of  sin,  than  the 
judgment  of  God  immediately  presents  itself,  and 
the  judgment  of  God  felt,  is  always  accompanied 
with  a  frightful  horror  of  death.  Besides,  the  con- 
science, convinced  of  its  weakness,  and  of  the  in- 
sufficiency of  its  forces,  naturally  falls  into  despair. 
From  these  emotions  spring  a  profound  humility 
and  extreme  alarm  ;  so  that  the  man,  dismayed  at 
the  idea  of  eternal  death,  which  he  sees  ready  to 
burst  upon  him,  on  account  of  his  injustice  and  his 
crimes,  has  recourse  to  the  mercy  of  God  alone,  as 
to  the  only  door  of  salvation;  and,  feeling  that  it 
is  not  in  his  power  to  pay  what  he  owes  to  the  di- 
vine law,  cast  down  and  despairing  in  himself,  he 
lives  only  to  seek  elsewhere  the  help  he  stands  in 
need  of. 

"  But  Jehovah,  not  satisfied  with  having  shewn 
the  reverence  which  is  due  to  his  justice,  in  order  to 
inspire  our  hearts  with  love  towards  it,  and  hatred 
towards  iniquity,  has  farther  added  to  his  com- 
mandments, promises  and  threatenings.  For  as  the 
eyes  of  our  understanding  are  so  blinded,  that  the 
beauty  of  virtue  alone  is  unable  to  attract  them; 
this  heavenly  Father,  full  of  bounty  and  of  cle- 
mency,  resolves  according  to  his  paternal  indul- 


WRITIINGS    OF    CALVIN.  227 

gence,  to  lead  us  to  desire  and  to  love  him,  by  the 
sweetness  of  the  rewards  which  he  proposes  to  us. 
He  informs  us,  therefore,  that  he  will  recompense 
virtue;  and,  that  he  who  will  obey  his  precepts 
shall  not  labour  in  vain.  On  the  contrary,  he  de- 
clares not  only  that  he  execrates  injustice;  but  that 
it  cannot  escape  his  vengeance,  because  he  has  re- 
solved to  punish  the  contempt  shewn  to  his  majesty. 
And  to  incite  by  all  possible  means,  he  promises  to 
all  those  who  shall  keep  his  commandments,  the 
blessings  of  the  present  life,  and  the  eternal  felicity 
of  Paradise.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  also 
threatens  with  temporal  calamities,  and  the  punish- 
ment of  eternal  death,  those  who  shall  have  viola- 
ted them.  For  the  promise,  (referring  to  the  sta- 
tutes and  judgments  of  the  Lord)  '  Which  ifa  man 
do,  he  shall  live  in  them;'  and  the  threatening 
also,  which  answers  to  it,  '  The  soul  that  sinneth, 
it  shall  die ;'  evidently  belong  to  a  death,  and  to 
future  blessedness  which  will  never  end;  and  where- 
ever  the  good-will,  or  the  anger  of  the  Lord  is 
mentioned,  eternal  life  is  included  in  the  first,  and 
eternal  perdition  under  the  other. 

*'  In  the  law  we  meet  with  a  large  enumeration 
of  temporal  blessings  and  curses.  In  the  punish- 
ments denounced,  the  Lord  discovers  a  sovereign 
purity;  since  he  cannot  suffer  iniquity  without 
punishing  it.  In  the  promises,  besides  discovering 
his  love  for  justice,  since  he  does  not  abandon  it 
without  satisfaction,  he  farther  discovers  in  them  a 
wonderful  indulgence  and  benignity.     For  being 


228  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

indebted  to  his  majesty  for  all  that  we  have,  as 
well  as  for  what  we  are,  does  he  not  with  justice 
demand  all  that  he  requires  of  us,  as  a  debt  due  to 
him  ?  Now  does  the  payment  of  such  a  debt  de- 
serve a  reward  f  God,  therefore,  abates  from  his 
right,  when  he  proposes  any  recompence  for  our 
obedience. 

"  With  respect  to  the  utility  which  the  promises 
themselves  afford  us,  we  have  already  spoken  in 
part.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  shew  at  present,  that 
the  promises  of  the  law,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  re- 
commend righteousness  to  us,  in  order  to  shew  us 
with  certainty,  how  agreeable  to  God  is  the  obser- 
vfince  of  it ;  and  that  punishments,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  placed  before  us  in  order  to  induce  us  to 
execrate  injustice ;  lest  the  sinner,  plunged  in  vicious 
pleasures,  become  intoxicated  with  their  sweetness, 
to  a  forgetfulness  that  the  judgment  of  the  Law- 
giver is  preparing  his  eternal  perdition."* 

Having  contrasted  the  spiritual  legislation  of  Je- 
hovah with  that  of  human  governments,  and  shewn 
the  spirituality  and  extent  of  the  divine  law,  as 
reaching  to  the  thoughts  of  the  heart,  and  requiring 
an  angelic  purity  ;  our  author  justifies  his  expo- 
sition, by  producing  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ, 
as  a  teacher  of  the  same  sentiments.  "  When  we 
say,"  he  observes,  "  that  the  sense  of  the  law  is 
such,  we  are  far  from  introducing  an  arbitrary  in- 
terpretation ;  we  only  follow  Jesus  Christ,  the  faith- 

*  Instit.  lib.  ii.  cap.  S. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVliN.  229 

ml  interpreter.  As  the  Pharisees  had  imbued  the 
people  with  tlie  pernicious  opinion,  that  they  ful- 
filled the  law,  provided  they  did  not  violate  it  by 
external  actions  ;  the  Divine  Saviour  did  not  fail 
also  to  censure  so  dangerous  an  error,  when  he 
said,  that  to  look  with  immodesty  upon  a  woman, 
is  to  commit  adultery  ;  and  that  those  who  hate 
their  brethren,  are  murderers.  For  he  declares 
those  persons  liable  to  the  punishment  of  the  judg- 
ment, who  have  only  conceived  anger  in  their 
hearts ;  those,  who  by  murmuring,  testify  that 
they  have  conceived  an  offence,  punishable  by  the 
Council;  and  those  who  by  imprecations,  or  by 
injuries,  openly  discover  their  ill  will,  worthy  of 
the  torment  of  hell  fire. 

"  Those  who  have  not  made  these  observations, 
have  imagined  that  Jesus  Christ,  by  preaching 
such  a  doctrine,  is  to  be  considered  only  as  a  second 
Moses,  introducing  the  gospel  law  to  supply  the 
deficiencies  of  the  Mosaic :  from  whence  springs 
the  common  maxim  respecting  the  perfection  of  the 
evangelical  law,  that  it  is  in  this  respect  superior  to 
what  it  was  under  the  Old  Testament,  which  is,  on 
many  accounts,  a  very  pernicious  error.  The  re- 
futation of  this  error  is  sufficiently  easy,  because 
such  persons  have  thought  that  Jesus  Christ  made 
some  addition  to  the  law  ;  whereas  he  merely  ex- 
pounded it ;  entirely  re-established  it,  and  demon- 
strated its  extent  by  purging  it  from  the  falsehoods 
with  which  tlie  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  obscured' 
20 


230  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

it,   and  from  the  leaven  of  their  traditions,   with 
which  they  had  corrupted  it."* 

The  above  quotations  from  Calvin,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  moral  law,  sufficiently  evince  how  remote 
he  was  from  the  Antinomian  heresy ;  and  how  lit- 
tle they  are  acquainted  with  his  writings,  who 
charge  them  with  an  Antinomian  tendency.  That 
many  persons,  calling  themselves  Calvinists,  have 
carried  his  sentiments  to  an  extreme,  from  which 
that  holy  man  would  have  revolted  with  indigna- 
tion, is  abundantly  certain ;  but,  "  men  of  sense 
will  consider  that  principles  are  not  therefore  to  be 
rejected,  because  they  have  been  abused." f  With 
the  exception  of  Antinomians,  all  parties  are  agreed 
in  the  belief  of  the  general  truth,  that  "  without 
holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord ;"  their  defini- 
tions of  holiness  are,  indeed,  various,  and  many  of 
them  defective ;  but  they  all  include  a  recognition 
of  the  Scripture  declaration  of  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  holiness.  The  Antinomian  alone  furnishes 
an  instance  of  contradiction  to  the  whole  spirit  of 
Christianity.  Religion,  considered  with  reference 
to  heaven,  stands  only  in  the  relation  of  a  mean  to 
an  end.  The  Scriptures  afford  us  very  little  posi- 
tive information  with  respect  to  heaven  itself;  but 
the  general  inference  deducible  from  their  descrip- 
tion is,  obviously,  that  whether  it  be  a  state  or  a 


*  Instit.  lib.  ii.  cap.  8. 

t  Bishop  Kurd's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Pro- 
phecies. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  231 

place,  its  element  is  purity.  It  is,  therefore,  the 
great  object  of  Christianity  to  form  its  happy  sub- 
jects "  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light."  Light  is  the  known  emblem  of  purity,  and 
as  such  is  applied  to  the  Divine  Being,  of  whom 
we  read, — "  God  is  hght,  and  in  him  is  no  dark- 
ness at  all."  But  if  we  were  to  judge  of  the  future 
heaven  of  Antinomians  by  their  sentiments  and  con- 
duct, we  should  scarcely  expect  to  find  them  asso- 
ciated with  "  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect." 
Under  the  influence  of  genuine  Christianity,  the 
mind  not  only  respects  the  authority  of  its  precepts, 
but  acquires  a  supreme  attachment  to  them. — "  O 
how  I  love  thy  law,"  is  the  undisguised  expression 
of  the  heart ;  nor  would  the  real  Christian,  if  it 
were  possible,  wish  to  be  dispensed  from  the  autho- 
rity of  the  moral  law,  as  a  rule  of  life.  Knowing 
that  it  requires  an  obedience,  which  it  is  his  privi- 
lege to  yield,  while  he  admires  its  sublime  moralit}-, 
he  respects  its  solemn  requisitions.  The  error  of 
those,  who,  because  the  law  is  a  ministry  of  death 
in  its  operation  on  the  guilty,  contend  that  it  is  no 
longer  a  rule  of  life  to  believers  under  the  gospel 
dispensation,  is  treated  by  our  author  with  suitable 
severit3\  "  Some  ignorant  persons,"  says  he, 
"  hardily  reject  Moses  in  general  and  without  ex- 
ception, and  wish  to  dispense  with  the  two  tables  of 
the  law,  because  they  imagine  it  is  by  no  means 
suitable  for  Christians  to  attach  themselves  to  a 
doctrine  which  contains  a  ministry  of  death.  Mo- 
ses has  fully  declared,  that  although  the  law  can 


232  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

only  engender  death  in  the  sinner,  it  is  nevertheless 
highly  advantageous  to  the  faithful ;  for,  being  at- 
the  point  of  death,  he  uttered  that  solemn  protes- 
tation to  the  people  : — *  Set  your  hearts  unto  all- 
ihe  words  which  I  testify  unto  you  this  day  ;  which 
ye  shall  command  your  children  to  observe  to  do, 
all  the  words  of  this  law,  for  it  is  not  a  vain  thing 
for  you,  because  it  is  your  life.' 

"  If  no  one  can  deny  that  there  is  in  the  law  a 
perfect  model  of  righteousness,  we  must  of  necessity 
conclude  one  of  two  things  ;  either  that  we  ought 
to  have  no  rule  for  the  regulation  of  our  lives,  or, 
that  we  must  abide  by  this ;  since  there  cannot  be 
many  models  of  righteousness,  but  one,  alone,  per- 
petual and  immutable.  AVhat  David,  therefore, 
says  of  the  righteous  man,  that,  '  in  the  law  doth 
he  m.editate  day  and  night,'  is  not  to  be  understood 
of  any  particular  age,  but  to  be  extended  to  the  end 
of  time.  Nor  are  we  to  be  surprised  that  it  requires 
of  us  a  holiness  more  perfect  than  we  can  arrive  at, 
while  we  are  imprisoned  in  these  bodies.  For 
when  we  are  under  grace,  it  no  longer  executes  to- 
^vards  us  the  office  of  a  rigid  exactor,  whom  we 
cannot  satisfy,  without  paying  all  his  demands ; 
but,  by  exhorting  us  to  perfection,  to  which  it  calls 
us,  it  performs  the  part  of  a  faithful  guide,  who 
shews  us  the  end  at  which  we  must  aim  with  all  our 
powers  during  the  whole  of  our  lives  ;  and  to  which 
it  is  no  less  useful  for  us  to  aspire,  than  it  is  agree- 
able to  our  duty  to  perform.  It  will  be  sufficient  if 
in  this  contention  we  persevere,  since  the  whole  of 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVI-N.  233 

life  is  a  race,  at  the  end  of  wliicli  the  Judge  will 
graciously  reward  us,  notwithstanding  our  imper- 
fections. 

**  The  law,  therefore,  being  an  exhortation  to 
believers,  not  by  binding  their  consciences  by  the 
fear  of  its  curse,  but  by  awakening  and  by  solicit- 
ing them;  by  censuring  their  vices,  and  their  de- 
fects ;  many  persons,  desirous  on  that  account  of 
representing  our  deliverance  from  its  curse,  main- 
tain, that  the  law  is  abrogated  as  it  respects  be- 
lievers. (I  am  now  speaking  of  the  moral  law.) 
*  It  is  not,'  say  they,  '  that  it  ought  not  ever  to  com- 
mand them  what  is  right  and  just;  but  it  is  no 
longer  what  it  was  before  to  them ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  no  longer  confounds  and  dismays  their  consci- 
ences by  the  terrors  of  its  condemnation.  The 
apostle  Paul,  indeed,  teaches  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness in  his  Epistles,  such  an  abrogation  of  the  law. 
Jesus  Christ  also  taught  the  same  truth,  as  appears 
from  his  declaration  that  he  came  not  to  destroy 
the  law ;  which  he  would  not  have  made,  if  he  had 
not  been  accused  of  wishing  to  abolish  it,  and  if 
this  opinion  had  not  been  common  and  familiar 
amongst  the  Jews.  Nor  would  they  have  had  that 
idea,  had  it  not  been  founded  upon  some  pretext : 
so  that  it  is  to  be  supposed,  that  the  opinion  which 
they  had  formed  of  Jesus  Christ,  proceeded  from  a 
false  interpretation  of  his  doctrine,  as  it  is,  indeed, 
the  custom  of  most  men  to  mutilate  the  truth,  in  or* 
der  to  give  currency  to  their  errors. 

"  That  we  may  not  fall  into  the  like  mistake,  it 
20* 


234  WRITINGS    OF    CALVI>. 

will  be  necessary  to  distinguish  carefully,  between 
what  is  abrogated  of  the  law,  and  what  still  re- 
mains in  force.  When  the  Lord  Jesus  says, — 
'  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  and 
the  prophets.  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfil.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  till  heaven  and 
earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass 
from  the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled,' — he  clearly  shews 
by  such  language,  that  the  obedience  and  reverence 
due  to  the  law  are  not  in  the  least  diminished  by 
his  coming;  and  that  for  the  best  of  reasons,  since 
he  came  to  enforce  its  rights  by  removing  its  trans- 
gressions. The  doctrine  of  the  law,  therefore,  re- 
mains unaltered  by  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  in  no  respect  prevents  its  disposing  us  to 
good  works  of  every  kind,  by  teaching,  reproving, 
and  correcting  us."* 

Various  are  the  reasons  which  might  be  assigned 
for  the  perpetuity  of  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life  to 
believers;  but  it  is  hoped  that  the  just  and  conclu- 
sive reasonings  above  quoted,  will  be  of  sufficient 
weight  to  convince  the  impartial  reader  of  the  folly 
and  wickedness  of  those,  who,  under  a  pretext  of 
honouring  the  character  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ, 
pour  the  most  daring  contempt  upon  the  legislation 
of  Jehovah.  But,  if  the  sentiment  opposed  be  dis- 
honourable to  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  big 
also  with  the  most  mischievous  effects  to  societ}'. 
It  is  possible  that  men  may  be  better  than  the  prin- 

*  Instil,  lib.  ii.  cap.  7« 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  235 

ciples  which  they  profess ;  but  the  instances  are  so 
few,  and  the  tendency  of  Antinomian  sentiments, 
in  particular,  is  so  uniform,  that  we  are  justified  in 
denouncing  the  character  as  hateful  to  God,  and 
dangerous  in  the  highest  degree  to  society  ;  but  let 
such  persons  learn  what  that  meaneth,  *'  Shall  we 
continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound?  God  for- 
bid!" 

The  moral  law,  being  founded  on  the  nature  of 
the  Deity,  can  never  admit  of  repeal.  The  same 
reasons  which  rendered  it  necessary  at  its  promul- 
gation, continuing  in  unabated  force,  preclude  the 
very  possibility  of  its  being  abolished;  for,  either 
some  change  must  take  place  in  the  Deity  himself, 
which  it  is  absurd  to  suppose,  or  the  relation  of  the 
creature  to  the  great  First  Cause  must  be  destroyed, 
which  is  impossible;  or,  the  infinite  reasons  upon 
which  the  Divine  government  is  founded,  must  re- 
main in  full  force.  It  is,  therefore,  obvious  that  the 
authority  which  has  enacted  the  moral  law  can 
alone  repeal  it ;  but,  as  the  grounds  of  that  law 
must  be  resolved  into  the  original  claims  of  the 
Divine  Being  upon  his  creatures,  which  are  in  their 
very  nature  immutable ;  it  is  evident  that  the  autho- 
rity of  God  can  never  be  found  in  opposition  to 
those  claims;  and,  that  it  is  in  vain  therefore  to 
look  for  a  repeal  which  would  compromise  the  Di- 
vine character.  If,  however,  the  repeal  had  been 
either  practicable  or  expedient,  it  would  doubtless 
have  been  made  by  the  great  Legislator  of  the 
Christian  economy,  who  expressly  informs  us,  that 


236  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

he  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  establish  it. 
Since,  therefore,  an  unrepealed  law  continues  by 
its  original  authority  in  full  force,  and  no  repeal  of 
the  moral  law  can  be  shewn  to  have  taken  place, 
the  Christian  economy  leaves  the  subject  untouched ; 
and  he  who  presumes  upon  a  wilful  violation  of  that 
law,  incurs  the  aggravated  guilt  of  sinning  against 
the  more  luminous  exposition  of  that  authority  con- 
tained in  the  very  dispensation  which  he  makes  the 
pretext  of  his  emancipation. 

A  glance  at  some  of  the  effects  which  would  un- 
avoidably result  from  the  repeal  of  the  moral  law, 
will  be  sufficient  to  convince  all  who  are  not  under 
the  delirium  of  Antinomianism,  that  a  more  dan- 
gerous delusion  has  never  been  propagated  by  him 
who  was  "  a  liar  from  the  beginning." 

It  is  generally  allowed,  that  the  restraints  of  hu- 
man laws  are  not  to  be  put  in  comparison  with  those 
of  Divine  legislation  ;  and  the  history  of  fanaticism 
abundantly  proves  how  feeble  are  the  barriers  of 
human  institutions,  when  an  apprehended  emanci- 
pation, by  Divine  authority,  takes  possession  of 
the  mind.  The  national  and  individual  crimes  of 
the  Papists,  as  well  as  the  enormities  of  the  fana- 
tics of  Munster,  too  well  demonstrate  the  truth  of 
the  remark.  In  proportion,  therefore,  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  well-being  of  society,  it  is  desirable 
that  the  impiety  and  anti-social  tendency  of  Anti- 
nomianism be  denounced  and  counteracted,  since  it 
is  in  its  very  principle,  a  violation  of  all  law,  hu- 
man and  divine.     When,  therefore,  society  shall  be 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  237 

brought  U)  believe,  that  God  has  no  rights,  and 
our  neighbour  no  claims;  that  the  one  may  be  in- 
sulted with  impunit}^,  and  the  other  injured  without 
remorse ;  the  term  of  human  life  will  be  too  short 
to  calculate  the  evils  to  which  it  w  ill  be  incident. 


On  the  Doctrine  of  Election. 

In  the  train  of  sin,  and  amongst  the  chief  of  our 
woes,  experience  requires  us  to  include  ignorance; 
and  there  is,  indeed,  scarcely  any  crime  which  does 
not  stand  in  some  connexion  more  or  less  remote 
with  it.  If  this  ignorance  were  merely  natural,  it 
would  be  some  extenuation;  but  it  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, evident,  that  it  is  wilful  and  perverse. 
"  Light  is  come  into  the  world,  but  men  choose 
darkness  rather  than  light."  It  is  to  this  fact  that 
infidelity  must  be  referred,  since  the  evidence,  ex- 
ternal and  internal,  in  favour  of  the  Christian  re- 
velation, is  so  complete^  that  it  requires  abundantly 
more  credulity  to  remain  an  infidel,  than  is  imputed 
to  those  who  embrace  Christianity.  The  inspira- 
tion and  authority  of  the  Scriptures  being  once  ad- 
mitted, the  mind  becomes  disposed  to  exercise  an 
implicit  faith  with  regard  to  the  detail  of  its  con- 
tents, and,  instead  of  trying  Scripture  truths  at  the 
bar  of  reason,  submits  the  understanding  to  the 
authority  of  faith.  The  prevailing  inquiry  will  of 
course  be,  what  doctrines  are  revealed,  and  with 


238  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

what  view ;  nor  will  it  revolt  such  an  inquirer  that 
the  reasons  of  the  doctrine  are  less  distinctly  re- 
vealed than  the  doctrine  itself.  Before  a  disciplined 
understanding,  and  an  obedient  heart,  theological 
difficulties  vanish  and  subside.  The  rejection  of  a 
doctrine,  on  the  ground  of  not  being  able  to  com- 
prehend it,  is  a  modest  way  of  putting  ignorance 
in  the  chair,  and  constituting  it  the  judge  of  truth. 
When  we  consider  how  many  things  in  the  natural 
world  baflle  the  most  acute  investigation,  shall  we 
be  surprised,  if,  in  Christianity,  a  world  of  mira- 
cles, the  same  character  of  ignorance  accompany 
us  there  ?  The  opposition  made  to  particular  doc- 
trines, while  it  develops  the  depravity  of  human 
nature,  illustrates  the  truths  opposed.  Those  sen- 
timents which  pay  the  least  deference  to  human  na- 
ture, and  require  the  most  implicit  acquiescence, 
contain  internal  evidence  of  their  authority.  No 
doctrine,  perhaps,  has  been  opposed  with  more  vio- 
lence and  virulence,  than  the  doctrine  of  election  ; 
though  the  thing  itself  is  only  an  illustration  of 
that  sovereignty,  which,  w^hen  it  is  displayed  in  the 
course  of  providence,  commands  a  general  acqui- 
escence. It  is  not  difficult,  however,  to  account  for 
the  unpopularity  of  this  doctrine,  which  so  entirely 
excludes  human  merit;  a  circumstance  alone  suffi- 
cient to  excite  the  inveterate  opposition  of  the  ig- 
norant, but  arrogant  Pharisee.  The  application 
of  rules  of  human  conduct  to  the  Divine  Being, 
has  proved  a  fruitful  source  of  misconceptions,  with 
regard  to  the  plans  and  operations  of  Jehovah ;  the 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  239 

presiding  character  of  whose  dispensations  is,  sove- 
reignty. When  it  is  recollected  that  human  nature 
is  universally  depraved,  and,  "  that  in  a  way  of 
justice  none  of  us  should  see  salvation,"  the  Divine 
choice  of  some,  to  what  is  undeserved  by  all,  will 
excite  the  less  surprise,  especially  in  those  persons 
who  are  the  most  deeply  sensible  of  their  own  un- 
worthiness  of  so  distinguishing  an  act  of  royal  fa- 
vour. It  is,  indeed,  true,  that  this  doctrine  has  been 
abused  to  the  most  licentious  purposes ;  but  it  is 
allowed,  even  by  Dr.  Priestley,  (whom  no  one 
will  suspect  of  partiality  to  it,)  that,  "  the  doctrine 
of  a  general  and  most  particular  providence,  which 
is  so  leading  a  feature  in  every  scheme  of  predes- 
tination, brings  God  so  much  into  every  thing, 
that  an  habitual  and  animated  devotion  is  the  re- 
sult."* 

The  doctrine  of  election  being  the  distinguishing 
peculiarity  of  Calvinism,  the  reader  will,  no  doubt, 
be  pleased  to  see  it  stated  and  defended  in  the  words 
of  the  great  Reformer. — "  The  covenant  of  grace," 
he  observes,  "  not  being  equally  preached  to  all 
the  world,  nor  received  by  all  in  the  same  manner 
where  it  is  preached,  affords  a  display  of  the  mys- 
terious conduct  of  God  in  this  diversity,  since  it 
cannot  be  doubted  but  that  it  subserves  his  good 
pleasure.  As  it  is  evident  that  this  takes  place  by 
the  Divine  will,  that  salvation  is  offered  to  some, 
and  that  others  are  excluded  from  it,  so  it  gives 

*  Doctrine  of  Necessity,  p.  l62. 


240  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

rise  to  the  most  interesting  questions,  which  can 
only  be  resolved  by  instructing  the  faithful  in  what 
they  ought  to  believe  concerning  election  and  Di- 
vine predestination;  a  subject  which  to  many  per- 
sons appears  involved,  and  of  difficult  comprehen- 
sion, because  they  can  see  no  reason  why  God,  out 
of  the  common  mass  of  mankind,  sliould  select  some 
(o  predestinate  them  to  salvation,  and  others  to 
predestinate  them  to  death.  It  will,  however,  ap- 
pear in  the  sequel,  by  testimonies  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  they  embarrass  themselves  for  want  of 
good  sense  and  discernment.  Besides  which,  we 
shall  discover  in  that  obscurity  which  alarms  them, 
how  far  this  doctrine  is  not  only  useful,  but  also 
pleasant  and  delightful,  on  account  of  the  excellent 
fruits  which  we  derive  from  it.  Never  shall  we  be 
persuaded  in  a  proper  manner,  that  our  salvation 
arises  out  of  the  gratuitous  mercy  of  God,  if  we 
possess  not  at  the  same  time  the  knowledge  of  his 
eternal  election.  For  by  not  adopting  indiiferently 
the  whole  world  to  the  hope  of  salvation;  but  by 
giving  to  some,  what  he  refuses  to  others,  he,  by 
this  comparison  of  his  grace,  renders  it  more  esti- 
mable and  more  illustrious."^ 

"  I  acknowledge  that  the  profane  and  impious 
have,  in  this  doctrine,  found  subject  matter  for  cri- 
ticism and  raillery ;  but  if  we  fear  their  audacity, 
we  must  be  silent  on  the  principal  articles  of  our 
faith,  since  there  is  scarcely  any  one  which  they 

*  Instit.  hb.  iii.  cap.  21. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  241 

have  not  polluted  with  their  blasphemies.  A  re- 
bellious and  obstinate  spirit  will  discover  no  less 
insolence,  upon  hearing  that  in  the  one  essence  of 
God  there  are  three  persons,  than  that  God,  when 
he  created  man,  foresaw  what  would  happen  to  him. 
Nor  will  such  a  person  fail  to  laugh  and  jeer,  when 
told  that  the  world  has  been  created  little  more  than 
five  thousand  years.  Perhaps  he  will  inquire  why 
the  power  of  God  lay  so  long  dormant  and  inac- 
tive ?  Nor  can  any  thing,  indeed,  be  offered,  with- 
vout  being  exposed  to  such  profane  raillery. 

"  The  sentiment  which  some  believers  entertain, 
that  this  dispute  is  dangerous,  because  it  is  con- 
trary to  exhortations, — is  calculated  to  shake  our 
faith,  and  troubles  and  subdues  the  mind, — is  a 
vain  and  frivolous  allegation.  St.  Austin  confesses 
that  it  was  on  these  grounds  he  was  reproved  for 
preaching  too  freely  the  doctrine  of  predestination, 
which  he  also  abundantly  refutes,  as  indeed  he 
might  easily  do.  As  there  are  opposed  to  the  doc- 
trine which  we  shall  establish,  various  absurdities, 
it  will  be  proper  to  solve  them  in  their  respective 
order.  I  desire  only  in  general,  to  have  this  arti- 
cle granted  to  me ;  that  as  we  ought  not  to  endea- 
vour to  discover  what  God  has  resolved  to  conceal 
from  us,  so  neither  ought  we  to  neglect  what  he 
has  fully  revealed  to  us ;  lest  he  should  on  the  one 
hand  tax  us  with  too  great  curiosity,  or  on  the  other 
accuse  us  of  ingratitude. 

"  I  suppose  there  is  no  person  of  any  piety,  who 
will  absolutely  deny  that  predestination,  by  which 
21 


242  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

God  hath  chosen  some  men  to  the  hope  of  salva- 
tion, and  has  adjudged  others  to  eternal  damna- 
tion. But  many  persons  involve  this  doctrine  in 
difficulties,  and  especially  those  who  pretend  to 
found  it  upon  the  Divine  prescience.  Both  of 
these  things  we  establish,  that  God  foresees  all,  and 
that  he  disposes  of  all ;  but  we  maintain  that  it  con- 
founds every  thing  to  subject  the  predestination  of 
God  to  his  prescience.  When  we  attribute  a  fore- 
knowledge to  God,  we  mean  that  all  things  have 
ever  been  and  remain  eternally  before  his  eyes.  So 
that  with  respect  to  his  knowledge,  nothing  is  fu- 
ture nor  passed;  all  things  are  present  to  him,  and 
so  present,  that  he  does  not  only  imagine  them  by 
representing  to  himself  their  ideas,  like  those  things 
which  present  themselves  to  us  through  the  medium 
-f)f  the  imagination,  when  our  souls  retain  them  in 
our  memory;  but  he  beholds  and  contemplates 
them  as  though  they  were  really  before  his  eyes. 
This  prescience  extends  through  the  circuit  of  the 
world,  and  over  all  creatures.  We  call  predesti- 
nation the  eternal  decree  of  God,  by  which  he  hath 
resolved  in  his  counsel  what  he  would  do  with  every 
man  in  particular.  ^ 

"  God  hath  not  only  given  testimony  to  the  doc- 
trine of  individual  predestination,  but  hadi  also  af- 
forded us  a  pattern  of  it  in  the  race  of  Abraham : 
for  he  hath  therein  clearly  shewn,  that  it  belongs  to 
him  to  ordain  the  destiny  of  every  people,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  good  pleasure.  *  When  the  Most 
High,'  says  Moses,  '  divided  to  the  nations  their 


WRITI?^GS    OF    CALVIN.  243 

uiheritance,  when  he  separated  the  sons  of  Adam, 
he  set  the  bounds  of  the  people  according  to  the 
number  of  the  children  of  Israel :  for  the  Lord's 
portion  is  his  people :  Jacob  the  lot  of  his  inherit- 
ance.'^ He  elsewhere  speaks  more  expressly,  say- 
ing, '  The  Lord  did  not  set  his  love  upon  you,  nor 
choose  you  because  ye  were  more  in  number  than 
any  people  (for  ye  were  the  fewest  of  all  people)  ; 
but  because  the  Lord  loved  you,  and  because  he 
would  keep  the  oath  which  he  had  sworn  unto  your 
fathers,  hath  the  Lord  brought  you  out  with  a 
mighty  hand.'  The  same  assertion  is  often  re- 
peated. '  Behold  the  heaven,  and  the  heaven  of 
heavens  is  the  Lord's  thy  God,  the  earth  also  with 
all  that  therein  is ;  only  the  Lord  had  a  delight  in 
thy  fathers  to  love  them,  and  he  chose  their  seed 
after  them,  even  you  above  all  people,  as  it  is  this 
day.' 

"  He  also  shews  them  elsewhere,  that  the  love  of 
God  is  the  cause  of  the  protection  with  which  they 
were  favoured.  This  the  faithful  unanimously  con- 
fess. '  He  hath  chosen  us  for  his  inheritance,  the 
excellency  of  Jacob  whom  he  loved.'  For  to  that 
gratuitous  love  they  attributed  all  the  excellency 
with  which  God  hath  crowned  them,  because  they 
are  well  assured,  not  only  that  they  have  not  ac- 
quired by  any  merit  the  advantages  which  they 
possess,  but  that  the  holy  patriarch  Jacob  himself 
did  not  possess  sufficient  virtue  to  derive,  either  to 


Deut. 


244  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIiN. 

himself  or  to  his  successors,  so  high  a  prerogative. 
The  prophets  also  mention  their  election,  in  order 
to  reproach  them,  and  to  cover  them  with  con- 
fusion, for  having  so  basely  fallen  by  their  ingra- 
titude. 

"  But  what  reply  will  they  make,  who  pretend  to 
limit  election  to  the  dignity  of  men,  or  to  the  merit 
of  their  works  ?     They  see  that  one  nation  alone  is 
preferred  to  all  the  rest  of  the  w  orld  ;  they  hear 
from  the  mouth  of  God  himself,  that  he  was  not  in- 
duced by  any  consideration  to  be  more  inclined 
towards  a  despicable,  and  afterwards  a  miserable 
and  a  rebellious  people,  than  towards  others..  Will 
they  plead  against  God,  that  he  intended  to  pro- 
pose to  us  such  an  example  of  his  mercy  f     But 
their  murmurings  and  their  contradictions  will  not 
hinder  the  execution  of  his  work.     By  throwing 
their  blasphemies,  like  so  many  stones  against  hea- 
ven, they  will  never  wound  his  justice ;  they  will 
only  return  upon  their  own  heads.     The  Israelites, 
you  perceive,  are  led  to  this  principle  of  gratuitous 
election  in  their  thanksgivings  to  God :  '  It  is  he 
that  hath  made  us,  and  not  we  ourselves ;  we  are 
his  people,    and  the  sheep  of  his  pasture.'     The 
negative  employed  is  by  no  means   superfluous  ; 
it  is  added  that  we  may  exclude  ourselves;  that  we 
may  not  only  learn  that  God  is  the  author  of  all  the 
blessings  which  render  us  acceptable,   but  that  he 
was  self-induced  in   the  communication  of  them, 
since  he  could  find  nothing  in  us  worthy  of  such 
liberality. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  245 

*•  To  this  doctrine  the  song  of  the  whole  church 
is  responsive :  *  O  God,  our  fathers  have  told  us 
what  work  thou  didst  in  their  days,  in  the  times  of 
old.  For  they  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by 
their  own  sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save 
them;  but  thy  right  hand  and  thine  arm,  and  the 
light  of  thy  countenance,  because  thou  hadst  a  fa- 
vour unto  them.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the 
land  of  Canaan  is  to  be  considered  as  a  visible 
symbol  of  the  secret  election  of  God,  by  which 
they  were  adopted.  The  words  of  the  prophet  Da- 
vid contain  the  same  idea : — *  Blessed  is  the  nation 
whose  God  is  the  Lord ;  and  the  people  whom  he 
hath  chosen  for  his  own  inheritance.'  Samuel  ani- 
mates the  righteous  of  his  day,  by  the  same  con- 
sideration to  entertain  a  good  hope;  *  for  the  Lord 
will  not  forsake  his  people,  for  his  great  name's 
sake;  because  it  hath  pleased  the  Lord  to  make 
you  his  people.'  "* 

From  the  above  considerations,  it  must  appear 
to  every  impartial  and  reflecting  mind,  that,  in  the 
dispensations  of  Providence  from  the  earliest  ages, 
a  perpetual  illustration  of  the  divine  sovereignty 
hath  been  furnished,  calculated  to  illustrate  the 
character  of  Jehovah,  as  an  independent  being,  de- 
riving all  his  motives  from  himself.  That  the 
greatest  and  the  best  of  beings  should  also  be  an 
absolute  Sovereign,  is  a  proposition  so  obvious, 
that  it  were  trifling  to  attempt  the  illustration  of  it. 


*  Instit.  Hb.  iii.  cap.  21. 
21* 


246  VVKITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

The  sovereignty  of  God  admitted,  (and  it  is  pre- 
sumed few  persons,  if  any,  calling  themselves  Chris- 
tians, will  dispute  it),  furnishes  a  reply  to  all  objec- 
tions against  the  doctrine  of  election,  as  inconsis- 
tent with  the  character  of  Jehovah;  election  being 
only  an  act  of  that  sovereignty  so  admitted.  But, 
if  such  an  act  of  sovereignty  be  in  itself  just,  it  is 
also  divinely  attested.  The  election  of  the  Jewish 
nation  to  be  a  distinct  people  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  to  exclusive  privileges,  may  be  consi- 
dered as  a  specimen  of  the  style  and  manner  of  the 
great  Supreme,  whose  majesty  places  him  above 
all  inquiry  and  censure,  though  his  goodness  con- 
descends to  reveal  a  part  of  his  ways  ;  but  how  lit- 
tle of  him  is  knoivn! 

Those  who  bound  their  inquiries  by  the  decisions 
of  Scripture,  will  attend  with  candour  and  impar- 
tiality to  testimonies  in  favour  of  this  doctrine  de- 
duced from  thence. 

The  cause  of  election,  as  stated  in  the  Scriptures, 
appears  to  be  the  uninfluenced  good  pleasure  of 
God,  irrespectively  of  all  qualities  and  circum- 
stances in  the  subjects  of  that  choice.  That  works, 
either  past  or  future,  are  of  no  consideration  on 
this  subject,  our  author  proves  with  sufficient  evi- 
dence, by  observing,  that  "  Wherever  the  good 
pleasure  of  God  reigns,  works,  of  whatever  kind, 
can  be  of  no  consideration.  It  is  true,  that  in  this 
passage  the  apostle  does  not  pursue  the  antithesis, 
which  must,  however,  be  understood,  as  he  himself, 
elsewhere  explains  it»     'He  hath  saved  us,'  says 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIX.  247 

he,  *  and  called  us  with  an  holy  calhng ;  not  ac- 
cording to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own 
purpose  and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ 
Jesus  before  the  world  began.'  And  I  have  also 
shewn,  that  the  words  already  handled,  *  That  we 
might  be  holy  and  without  blame,' ought  to  remove 
all  scruples  from  our  mind.  For  if  we  say  that  he 
hath  elected  us  because  he  foresaw  that  we  should 
be  holy,  we  shall  reverse  the  apostle's  order.  We 
may,  therefore,  reason  thus,  with  entire  confidence: 
Since  God  hath  elected  us  in  order  that  we  might 
be  holy,  it  was  not,  therefore,  because  he  foresaw 
that  we  should  be  so.  For  these  two  things  are 
opposed  to  each  other  ;  that  the  faithful  derive  their 
holiness  from  election,  and  that,  nevertheless,  it 
was  in  the  view  of  that  holiness  that  they  were 
elected.  The  subterfuge  to  which  they  always 
have  recourse,  ought  here  to  be  disregarded ;  that 
although  God  does  not  bestow  the  favour  of  elec- 
tion to  preceding  merits,  he  confers  it,  neverthe- 
less, on  account  of  future  merits.  For  when  the 
apostle  says  that  the  faithful  were  elected  that  they 
might  be  holy,  he  thereby  signifies  that  all  the  ho- 
liness which  they  may  possess,  derives  its  origin 
from  election.  And  how  can  it  ever  be  made  to 
agree,  that  those  things  which  take  their  rise  from 
election,  and  which  election  itself  produces,  should 
influence  God  to  the  act,  and  be  the  cause  of  it  ? 

"  The  apostle  confirms  what  he  had  said  more 
strongly  yet,  when  he  adds,  that  God  hath  elected 
us  according  to  his  good  pleasure,  which  he  had 


248  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

purposed  in  himself.  For  that  is  equivalent  to 
saying  that  he  considered  nothing  out  of  himself, 
to  which  he  had  any  regard  in  forming  this  resolu- 
tion. He,  therefore,  adds,  that  the  source  of  our 
election  ought  to  be  referred  to  this  end,  that  we 
might  be  to  the  praise  of  the  grace  of  God.  Nor 
does  the  grace  of  God  merit  to  be  celebrated  in  our 
election,  unless  that  election  be  gratuitous.  This 
it  cannot  by  any  means  be  considered,  if  God  is 
influenced  in  the  choice  of  his  people,  by  the  con- 
sideration of  their  works  respectively.  Thus,  what 
Jesus  Christ  said  to  his  disciples,  is  equally  true  as 
applied  to  the  faithful  in  general :  '  Ye  have  not 
chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen  you.'  By  which  ex- 
pression, he  not  only  excluded  all  previous  merits, 
but  farther  signified  that  they  possessed  nothing  in 
themselves  on  account  of  which  they  deserved  to 
be  elected,  unless  he  had  anticipated  them  by  his 
mercy.  In  which  sense  we  must  understand  the 
expression  of  Paul,  '  Who  hath  first  given  to  him, 
and  it  shall  be  recompensed  unto  him  again  ?'  where 
he  endeavours  to  shew  that  the  goodness  of  God 
anticipates  men  in  such  a  sense,  that  it  finds  nothing 
in  them,  either  past  or  future,  calculated  to  attract 
his  good-will. 

"  Let  us,  however,  attend  to  what  the  Supreme 
Master  and  Teacher  himself  pronounces  on  this 
subject.  Perceiving  in  his  hearers  so  great  a  hard- 
ness of  heart,  that  his  preaching  appeared  to  be 
almost  useless  to  them,  to  prevent  the  abuse  which 
the  weak  might  make  of  it,  he  exclaims,  *  All  that 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  249 

the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me  ;  and  this  is 
the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all 
which  he  hath  given  me,  I  should  lose  nothing.' 
Let  it  be  well  remarked,  that  when  we  are  placed 
under  the  protection  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it 
proceeds  from  the  gift  of  the  Father,  as  its  princi- 
ple and  source.  Some  persons  may  contend,  per- 
iiaps,  that  God  acknowledges,  in  the  number  of  his 
people,  those  only  who  voluntarily  give  themselves 
to  him  by  faith.  But  Jesus  Christ  insists  simply 
upon  this  ■  point,  that  although  the  whole  world 
should  be  shaken  by  the  numerous  revolts  which 
take  place,  that  the  counsel  of  God  remains  still 
firmer  than  the  heavens,  that  election  shall  never 
fail.  We  see  in  the  gospel  that  the  elect  belonged 
to  their  heavenly  Father  before  he  gave  them  to 
his  only  Son.  If  it  be  asked,  whether  they  natu- 
rally belonged  to  him,  it  is  replied,  that  he  consti- 
tutes those  his  who  were  far  from  him,  by  attaching 
them  to  himself.  The  words^  of  Jesus  Christ  are 
too  clear  to  be  obscured  by  any  gloss  whatever: 
'  No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father  which 
hath  sent  me  draw  him.  Every  man,  therefore, 
that  hath  heard  and  hath  learned  of  the  Father, 
cometh  unto  me.'  Our  divine  Saviour  having  said 
that  the  disciples  who  had  been  given  to  him  were 
the  possession  of  his  Father,  adds  towards  the  close, 
'  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them  which  thou 
hast  given  me,  for  they  are  thine.'  From  whence, 
therefore,  does  it  proceed,  that  the  world  in  gene- 
ral does  not  belong  to  its  Creator,  if  it  is  not  be- 


250  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

cause  grace  delivers  from  the  curse  and  wrath  of 
God,  a  few  persons  who  otherwise  would  have  pe- 
rished, and  leaves  the  world  in  that  perdition  to 
which  it  was  destined  ? 

"  Farther,  though  Jesus  Christ  places  himself, 
as  it  were,  between  his  Father  and  his  people,  he 
nevertheless  attributes  to  himself  the  right  which  he 
possesses,  in  common  with  the  Father,  to  choose 
whom  he  pleases  :  '  I  speak  not  of  you  all,'  says 
he,  '  I  know  whom  I  have  chosen.'  Should  it  be 
asked,  from  whence  he  chose  them  ?  he  elsewhere 
informs  us  that  it  was  out  of  the  world.,  which  he 
excludes  from  his  prayers,  when  he  recommends 
his  disciples  to  his  Fatlier.  It  deserves,  however, 
to  be  well  observed,  that  when  he  says  he  knows 
them  whom  he  hatli  elected,  he  designates  a  cer- 
tain number  of  mankind,  not  distinguishing  them 
from  the  rest  for  the  virtues  or  quahties  which  they 
possess,  but  on  account  of  their  being  separated  by 
the  heavenly  decree.  From  whence  it  follows, 
that  those  who  belong  to  the  election  of  which  Je- 
sus Christ  is  the  author,  are  not  superior  to  others 
in  themselves.  Where  he  elsewhere  places  Judtis 
amongst  the  elect,  though  he  was  indeed  a  devil, 
it  refers  merely  to  his  office.  The  apostleship  was 
indeed  a  mirror  of  the  favour  of  God,  as  St.  Paul 
frequently  acknowledges  respecting  himself;  it  did 
not,  however,  include  the  hope  of  eternal  salvation. 
Judas,  therefore,  by  exercising  his  ministry  with 
perfidy,  was  indeed  worse  than  a  devil ;  but  those 
whom  Jesus  Christ  hath  united  to  his  own  body, 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  251 

he  will  never  suffer  to  perish,  because  he  will  ever 
execute  what  he  hath  promised  to  maintain — their 
salvation ;  that  is  to  say,  he  will  display  a  divine 
power,  greater  than  any  in  the  world."* 

Having  thus  irrefragably  estabhshed  the  autho- 
rity of  the  doctrine  upon  Scripture  evidence,  our 
author  proceeds  to  adduce  the  testimonies  of  Ber- 
nard and  Austin,  and  rephes  with  great  solidity  of 
argument  to  the  various  calumnies  usually  directed 
against  it.  But  it  would  comport  neither  with  the 
design  of  the  present  work,  nor  probably  with  the 
reader's  inclination,  to  follow  the  arguments,  how- 
ever judicious,  by  which  he  repels  the  objections 
alleged  against  the  tendency  of  the  doctrine.  It  is 
evident  that  the  doctrine  itself  stands  closely  con- 
nected in  the  Scriptures  with  personal  holiness; 
which  is  there  enjoined  upon  the  ground  of  the 
distinguishing  love  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ; 
and  though  good  works  have  no  influence  on  the 
decree  of  election,  they  are  considered  as  the  ob- 
jects of  predestination,  as  the  individual  is  the  sub- 
ject of  election.  An  habitual  exemplification  of  the 
Christian  character  in  all  its  parts,  being  the  only 
genuine  evidence  of  election,  no  man  is  entitled,  on 
the  ground  of  self-complacency,  to  write  his  own 
name  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
verbal  difference  between  Calvinists  and  Arminians, 
upon  the  question,   "  Are  there  few  that  shall  be 


*  Instit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  22. 


252  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

saved  ?"  there  is  in  point  of  fact,  an  identity  of  re- 
sult upon  each  statement ;  since  both  parties  con- 
sider conversion  as  essential  to  salvation,  and  unite 
in  ascribing  regeneration  to  a  divine  and  sovereign 
influence,  asserted  in  the  passage,  "  the  wind  blow- 
eth  where  it  listeth."  There  is,  therefore,  a  mani- 
fest fallacy  in  the  argument  that  more  persons  will 
be  finally  saved  upon  the  Arminian  than  upon  the 
Calvioistic  hypothesis;  since  the  numerical  amount 
is  precisely  the  same  upon  either  supposition,  con- 
version being  indispensable  to  an  entrance  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.* 


On  the  Doctrine  of  Reprohation. 

When  it  is  considered  what  odium  has  been  at- 
tached to  the  Calvinistic  system,  on  the  ground  of 
its  including  the  doctrine  of  reprobation,  it  cannot, 
surely,  be  thought  irrelevant  to  the  object  of  the 
present  undertaking,  to  insert  the  statement  of 
Calvin,  vvith  reference  to  that  subject. 

*'  Let  us  now  speak,"  says  he,  "  of  the  repro- 
bate, referred  to  by  St.  Paul.f  For  as  Jacob  was 
received  into  favour  without  having  merited  any 
thing  by  his  good  works ;  so  Esau  was  rejected  of 
God,  before  he  was  stained  with  a  single  crime. 
If  we  look  towards  works,  we  oiler  an  insult  to  the 

*  John  iii.  5.  t  Rom.  ix.  13. 


WRITINGS    OF    GALVIN.  253 

uposile,  as  if  he  had  not  seen  what  is  so  evident  to 
us.  And  that  he  did  not  include  them  is  apparent, 
since  he  principally  urges  this  article,  that,  though 
they  had  done  neither  good  nor  evil,  the  one  was 
chosen  while  the  other  was  rejected.  From  w  hence 
he  infers,  that  the  foundation  of  divine  predestina- 
tion is  not  to  be  found  in  works.  Besides,  in  re- 
ply to  the  question,  whether  God  be  unjust  in  act- 
ing thus?  he  does  not  intimate  that  God  treated 
Esau  according  to  his  deserts.  This,  however,  is 
precisely  what  he  ought  to  have  said,  as  it  would 
have  been  the  most  clear  and  natural  defence  of  the 
equity  of  God.  But  he  gives  an  entirely  different 
solution,  asserting  that  God  creates  the  reprobate, 
in  order  to  shew  forth  in  them  the  glory  of  his  jus- 
tice. By  adding,  indeed,  that  he  shews  mercy  to 
whom  he  pleases,  and  hardens  whom  he  will,  we 
see  how  he  imputes  both  these  actions  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  God.  If,  therefore,  we  can  allege  no 
other  reason  wherefore  God  condescends  to  honoui^ 
his  people  with  his  mercy,  than  because  it  pleases 
him ;  neither  can  we  assign  any  other,  wherefore  he 
rejects  others,  than  his  own  will.  For  when  it  is 
said,  that  God  hardens,  or  that  he  shews  mercy  ac- 
cording to  his  good  pleasure,  it  is  intended  to 
teach  us  to  seek  no  other  cause  than  his  will 
alone.* 

"  But  when  men  hear  these  things  asserted,  they 
are  incapable  of  restraining  their  intemperance  and 

*  Instit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  22. 

22 


254  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

audacity,  but  break  out  into  tumults,  as  though  a 
trumpet  were  sounded  for  the  assault.  Many  per- 
sons, under  the  pretext  of  supporting  the  interests 
of  the  glory  of  God,  and  of  preventing  any  unjust 
blame  from  being  thrown  upon  him,  consent  to  the 
doctrine  of  election,  but  deny  that  he  reprobates 
any.  But  this  subterfuge  is  puerile  and  absurd, 
since  election  cannot  subsist  unless  it  be  opposed 
to  reprobation.  It  is  admitted  that  God  separates 
those  whom  he  adopts  to  salvation  ;  it  is,  therefore, 
grossly  impertinent  to  say,  that  those  who  are  not 
elected  obtain  by  chance,  or  by  their  own  industry, 
what  is  bestowed  from  above  on  very  {ew  persons. 
God,  then,  reprobates  those  whom  he  leaves,  and 
for  no  other  reason,  than  because  he  chooses  to  ex- 
clude them  from  the  inheritance  which  he  has  des- 
tined for  his  children.  Nor  is  the  audacity  of  men 
to  be  endured,  which  is  not  to  be  repressed  by  the 
authority  of  the  word  of  God,  when  it  relates  to 
the  incomprehensible  counsel  of  God,  which  even 
angels  adore.  We  have  also  just  heard,  that  this 
hardening  is  as  much  in  the  hand  of  God,  as  his 
merc3^  We  have  seen,  indeed,  that  St.  Paul  does 
not  give  himself  the  trouble,  like  some  great  doc- 
tors, to  exonerate  God  by  lying  for  him ;  he 
merely  shews  that  a  vessel  of  clay  is  not  permitted 
to  dispute  with  Him  that  made  it.  Farther,  those 
who  cannot  endure  the  thought  that  God  should 
reprobate  any,  how  will  they  extricate  themselves 
from  that  sentence  of  Jesus  Christ.^ — '  Every  plant 
which  my  heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted,  shall 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  255 

be  rooted  up.'  They  admit  that  all  those  whom 
the  Father  has  not  condescended  to  plant  in  his 
field  as  sacred  trees,  are  manifestly  destined  to  per- 
dition. If  they  deny  this  to  be  a  mark  of  reproba- 
tion, there  is  nothing  so  clear  that  they  will  not 
obscure.  Though  they  cease  not  to  murmur,  let 
our  faith  be  constrained  within  the  boundaries  of 
sobriety,  and  listen  to  the  caution  of  St.  Paul:  not 
to  complain  of  God,  if,  '  willing  to  shew  his  wrath, 
and  to  make  his  power  known,  he  endure  with 
much  long  suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to 
destruction;  and  make  known  the  riches  of  his 
glory  on  the  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore 
prepared  unto  glory.'  Let  readers  attentively  ob- 
serve this  circumstance,  that  St.  Paul,  in  order  to 
cut  off  all  murmurs  and  calumnies,  attributes  a  so- 
vereign empire  to  the  wrath  and  power  of  God, 
since  it  is  equally  unjust  and  unreasonable  to  pro- 
fess to  investigate  the  secret  judgments  of  God, 
which  swallow  up  all  our  powers  by  their  unfa- 
thomable depth. 

"  The  conduct  of  God  in  inflicting  upon  the  re- 
probate the  punishment  due  to  them,  and  in  bestow- 
ing upon  his  elect  the  grace  which  they  did  not  de.- 
serve,  may  be  easily  defended  against  all  accusa- 
tion, by  the  similitude  of  a  creditor,  who  has  an 
unlimited  right  over  his  debt,  to  remit  it  to  the 
one,  and  to  enforce  the  payment  from  the  other, 
according  to  his  own  pleasure.  The  Lord  may, 
therefore,  shew  favour  to  whom  he  will,  because 
he  is  merciful ;  and  not  to  all,  because  he  is  just : 


256  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

in4)estowing  upon  some  what  they  do  not  deserve, 
he  shews  that  his  favour  is  gratuitous ;  in  not  be- 
stowing it  upon  all,  he  shews  what  all  deserve."^ 

An  opinion  equally  singular  and  erroneous  ha- 
ving been  adopted  and  acted  upon  by  several  mi- 
nisters of  reputedly  Calvinistic  sentiments;  that, 
because  salvation  is  restricted  to  the  elect,  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  ought  also  to  be  exclu- 
sively addressed  to  them;  a  brief  refutation  of  so 
absurd  an  hypothesis  can  require  no  apology. 

How  this  sentiment  can  be  reconciled  with  the 
commission  given  by  the  risen  Redeemer  to  his 
disciples,  to  preach  "  repentance  and  remission  of 
sins  in  his  name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at 
Jerusalem,"  f  those  who  maintain  it,  have  yet  to 
shew.  That  the  disciples,  if  they  understood  the 
doctrine  of  election,  could  have  any  grounds  for 
supposing  Jerusalem  sinners  to  be  objects  of  that 
decree,  is  a  supposition  too  glaringly  absurd  to  be 
countenanced  by  any  reflecting  mind.  So  entirely 
hopeless  a  task  as  that  of  preaching  to  persons, 
some  of  whose  hands  were  yet  reeking  with  the 
blood  of  their  Master,  would  have  required  nothing 
less  than  that  divine  commission  which  they  re- 
ceived, to  inspire  them  with  courage  and  success. 
But,  upon  the  principle  of  these  spurious  Calvin- 
ists,  they  acted  completely  out  of  character,  in 
'calling  those  sinners  to  repentance,  and  the  remis- 
sion of  their  sins;  and  ought  even  to  have  dis- 

*  Instit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  23.  t  Luke  xxiv.  47, 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  257 

obeyed  the  divine  and  benevolent  command.  The 
Saviour's  command  to  the  eleven,  to  "go  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature," 
must  be  equally  unintelligible  upon  so  singular  a 
principle;  unless  we  are  to  understand  "  every 
creature"  to  be  a  term  descriptive  of  the  elect,  in 
which  case  the  whole  world  must  have  been  in  an 
elect  state — which  is  absurd. 

If  it  be  urged,  that,  being  "  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,"  sinners  are  naturally  incapable  of  be- 
lieving and  obeying  the  gospel  call ;  so  were  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  where  the  first  Christian 
church  was  planted.  The  rule  of  conduct  for  ra- 
tional agents  being  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and 
not  his  decrees ;  wherever  a  Divine  appointment  is 
interposed,  implicit  acquiescence  and  prompt  obe- 
dience become  the  duties  of  all  professing  Chris- 
tians. As  well  might  Ezekiel  have  refused  to  pro- 
phesy to  the  dry  bones,  on  the  ground  of  the  ex- 
treme improbability  of  any  effect  resulting  from  his 
obedience ;  but  complying  with  the  Divine  appoint- 
ment, a  stirring  amongst  the  dry  bones,  which  be- 
came at  lengdi  animated  nito  a  great  army,  illus- 
trated the  divine  power,  while  it  explained  the  po- 
sitive command. 

But  the  spirit  of  the  objection  is  not  only  at  vari- 
ance with  evangelical  sentiment,  but  offends  equally 
against  the  authority  under  which  it  takes  shelter. 
How  little  claim  persons  who  advocate  this  senti- 
ment  really  possess  to  be  considered  Calvinists, 
will  appear  from  the  following  quotation  from  the 
22^ 


258  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

leader  under  whom  they  choose  to  arrange  them- 
selves : — "  But  to  what  end  (some  will  reply)  do 
exhortations  tend?  I  answer,  if  men  obstinately 
despise  them,  they  will  be  witnesses  to  convict 
them  when  they  appear  before  the  tribunal  of  God. 
They  even  now  strike  the  evil  conscience :  for 
though  they  affect  to  despise,  they  are  unable  to  dis- 
prove them.  But  w  hat  shall  the  poor  sinner  do,  it 
will  be  replied,  since  the  melting  of  heart  necessary 
to  obey,  is  not  afforded  to  him  ?  To  which  I  reply, 
how  vain  is  it  for  him  to  seek  such  excuses,  since 
he  cannot  impute  the  hardness  of  his  heart  to  any 
one  besides  himself. 

"  Should  any  one  ask,  why  they  are  warned  of 
their  duty?  Why  are  they  not  rather  left  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Holy  Spirit?  Why  are  they  soH- 
cited  by  exhortations,  since  they  can  only  comply 
with  them,  so  far  as  the  Spirit  enables  them  ?  Why 
are  they  corrected  when  they  have  departed  from 
the  right  way,  since  they  err  and  fall  by  a  neces- 
sary and  inevitable  infirmity  of  their  nature? — This 
is  briefly  our  answer; — O  man,  who  art  thou  that 
wouldst  impose  laws  upon  God  ?  If  he  choose  to 
prepare  us  by  means  of  exhortations  to  receive  that 
very  grace,  to  obey  those  exhortations  which  are 
addressed  to  us,  what  hast  thou  to  object  to  this 
conduct  of  the  Lord,  and  what  is  there  in  it  which 
thou  canst  justly  contemn?"* 

The  importance  of  pointed  addresses  to  the  con- 

*  Instit.  hb.  ii.  cap.  5. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  259 

sciences  of  sinners,  may  be  ascertained  from  the 
great  utility  of  such  works  as  Baxter's  "  Call  to 
the  Unconverted,''''  and  Doddridge's  ^^  Rise  and  Pro- 
gress of  Religion  in  the  SowZ;" — works  that  have, 
perhaps,  beyond  all  writings  merely  human,  pro- 
moted the  salvation  of  immortal  souls. 


On  Original  Sin» 

If  the  doctrine  of  election  be  objected  to,  on  the 
ground  of  difficulties  supposed  to  attach  to  it, 
though  easily  separable  from  it,  the  scripture  doc- 
trine of  original  sin,  with  all  its  humiliating  re- 
sults, can  scarcely  be  supposed  to  excite  any  feel- 
ings but  those  of  pride  and  indignation,  and  that 
sort  and  degree  of  opposition  which  such  a  state  of 
mind  naturally  induces.  The  admission  of  the  doc- 
trine is,  however,  necessary  to  an  accurate  under- 
standing of  many  parts  of  scripture,  particularly 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  which  the  apostle, 
assuming  the  fact  as  incontrovertible,  employs  it 
as  a  ground  of  reasoning  and  instruction.  Adam 
is  indeed  considered,  in  Sacred  Writ,  as  standing 
in  the  relation  of  a  federal  head  to  his  posterity,  to 
whom  Christ  is  also  opposed  as  the  covenant  head 
of  his  people.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  sub- 
ject has  its  difficulties,  which,  to  unenhghtened  rea- 
son may  appear  insuperable;  but  the  man  who  de- 
rives his  religious   views    immediately   from   the 


260  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

Scriptures,  will  admit  the  mysterious  doctrine  in 
the  simplicity  of  faith,  and  the  silence  of  acquies- 
cence. 

With  a  view  to  obviate  some  of  the  more  popu- 
lar objections,  our  author  furnishes  us  with  a  clear 
definition  of  terms,  in  the  following  words : — "  My 
design,"  says  he,  "  is  not  to  examine  all  the  defini- 
tions of  those  persons  who  have  treated  on  the  sub- 
ject. I  will  only  mention  one,  which  appears  to 
me  more  congenial  with  the  truth  than  the  rest. 
We  say  then,  that  original  sin  is  a  corruption  and 
an  hereditary  malignity  of  our  nature,  which,  being 
diffused  throughout  the  soul,  renders  us  obnoxious 
to  the  wrath  of  God,  and  produces  in  us  those 
works  which  the  Scriptures  call  works  of  the  flesh. 

"  We  must,  therefore,  observe  the  two  following 
things:  First,  that  we  are  so  corrupted  in  all  our 
powers,  as,  on  account  of  this  corruption,  to  be 
justly  liable  to  condemnation  before  God,  to  whom 
nothing  can  be  agreeable  but  righteousness,  inno- 
cence, and  purity.  Nor  can  it  be  alleged  that  this 
obnoxiousness  to  punishment  is  caused  by  another's 
fault  exclusively,  as  if  we  were  answerable  for  the 
sin  of  our  first  father,  without  being  ourselves 
guilty.  When  we  assert,  that  by  the  sin  of  Adam 
we  are  made  responsible  at  the  tribunal  of  God, 
we  by  no  means  pretend  to  say  that  we  are  to  bear 
the  punishment  of  his  crime,  however  innocent  we 
may  be,  and  without  having  deserved  it;  but  we 
merely  say,  that  being  universally  enveloped  in  the 
curse  by  his  disobedience,  he  hath  subjected  us  all 


"^VRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  261 

10  this  punishment.  Nor  hath  the  punishment  alone 
fallen  from  him  upon  us;  the  infection  and  corrup- 
tion communicated  by  him  to  us,  and  to  which 
punishment  is  due,  dwell  in  us  also.  On  \yhich 
account,  St.  Austin,  though  he  sometimes  calls 
original  sin  the  sin  of  atiother^  to  shew  more  evi- 
dently that  it  is  transmitted  to  us  by  a  carnal  pro- 
pagation, maintains,  notwithstanding,  that  it  be- 
longs to  us  individually.  The  apostle  also  ex- 
pressW  asserts  that  death  hath  passed  upon  all,  for 
that  all  have  simied ;  that  is  to  say,  because  all  are 
involved  in  original  sin,  and  infected  with  its  stains 
and  pollutions.  On  which  account,  even  infants 
are  subjected  to  this  condemnation,  not  simply  for 
the  sin  of  another,  but  for  their  own  also.  For 
although  they  have  not  yet  brought  forth  the  fruit 
of  iniquity,  the  seed  of  it  is,  nevertheless,  hidden 
in  them ;  and  what  is  still  worse,  their  whole  na- 
ture is  only  the  seed  of  sin  and  of  corruption, 
which  consequently  renders  them  odious  in  the 
sight  of  Deity. 

"  The  other  point  which  remains  to  be  consi- 
dered, is,  that  this  corruption  of  our  nature  is  ne- 
ver idle,  but  produces  incessantly  new  fruits,  iliose 
carnal  works  of  which  we  have  been  just  speaking, 
like  a  furnace  continually  emitting  flames,  or  a 
spring  sending  forth  streams.  Those  who  have, 
therefore,  defined  original  sin,  as  the  privation  of 
original  righteousness ,  with  ivhich  man  ought  to  be 
clothed,  have  in  these  words  comprised  the  sub- 
stance  of  that  sin;  but,  in  my  opinion,  have  not 


262  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

sufficiently  expressed  its  force  and  its  efficacy. 
For  our  nature  is  not  only  devoid  of  all  good,  but 
is  also  so  fruitful  of  evil,  as  never  to  remain  inac- 
tive. 

*' It  is  on  tins  account  I  have  observed,  that 
since  the  defection  of  Adam,  ail  the  powers  of 
man  have  been  subject  to  sin.  For  it  was  not  sim- 
ply the  inferior  part  of  the  soul,  or  sensuality, 
which  inclined  him  to  evil ;  that  unhappy  impiety 
to  which  we  have  alluded,  took  possession  also  of 
the  highest  and  most  excellent  faculty  of  his  mind, 
as  pride  gained  and  penetrated  into  the  most  inti- 
mate and  most  profound  part  of  his  heart.  From 
whence  it  appears,  how  absurd  is  the  conceit  of 
those  persons,  who  restrict  the  corruption  which 
proceeds  from  that  impiety  to  sensual  appetites,  or 
denominate  it  a  source,  a  principle  of  latent  fire, 
which  excites  to  the  commission  of  sin,  that  part 
only  of  the  soul  which  they  call  sensuality.  St. 
Paul  not  only  commands  us  to  mortify  sensual  ap- 
petites, but  is  desirous  that  we  may  be  renewed  in 
the  spirit  of  our  mind.  Hence  it  appears,  that  that 
.part  of  the  soul  in  which  its  excellence  is  most  con- 
spicuous, is  so  wounded  and  corrupted,  that  it  not 
only  simply  stands  in  need  of  a  cure,  but  of  being 
created  anew. 

"  Those  who  have  the  audacity  to  attribute  to 
God  the  cause  of  their  sins,  under  the  pretext  that 
we  assert,  that  men  are  naturally  corrupted,  would 
do  well  to  consider  the  grounds  on  which  they  rest, 
and  whether  it  is  not  a  great  crime  in  them  to  con- 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  263 

template  the  work  of  God  in  their  corruption,  in- 
stead of  seeking  it  in  the  nature  which  Adam  re- 
ceived before  his  transgression.  Let  us  ever  re- 
member to  impute  our  ruin  to  the  depravation  of 
our  naturef  and  not  to  nature  itself,  lest  we  accuse 
God,  the  author  and  preserver  of  our  being,  as 
though  our  misery  proceeded  from  him.  It  is  per- 
fectly true  that  this  mortal  evil  is  deeply  rooted  in 
our  nature ;  but  it  is  certain  that  this  evil  hath  oc- 
curred through  sin  superinduced.  We  ought,  there- 
fore, to  complain  of  ourselves  alone.  This  the 
Scriptures  particularly  inculcate  :  '  Lo,  this  only 
have  I  found,'  says  the  preacher,  '  that  God  hath 
made  man  upright ;  but  they  have  sought  out  ma- 
ny inventions.'  From  whence  it  appears  clearly, 
that  it  is  to  man  alone  that  his  ruin  must  be  im- 
puted, since,  having  received  by  the  favour  of  God 
a  natural  uprightness,  he  hath  by  his  own  folly 
fallen  into  vanity. 

"  We  assert,  therefore,  that  man  is  naturally  cor- 
rupted. Not  that  this  corruption  springs  from  the 
foundation  of  his  nature,  but  we  express  ourselves 
thus,  in  order  to  shew  that  it  is  rather  a  quality 
superadded  to  human  nature,  than  a  property  of  its 
substance  which  hath  from  the  beginning  belonged 
to  it.  W^e,  however,  call  this  corruption  natural^ 
in  order  that  no  one  may  imagine,  that  it  is  ac- 
quired or  contracted  by  example  or  eviljrustoms ; 
since  we  ail  take  possession  of  it  from  oifr  birth,  by 
a  successive  and  hereditary  right.  This  we  do  not 
assert  without  authority.    It  is  on  this  account  that 


264  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

the   apostle   designates  mankind,   by  nature,    the 
children  of  wrath."* 


On  Free-will. 

Having  thus  estabhshed  the  fact  of  the  entire  de- 
pravity of  human  nature,  our  author  naturally  pro- 
ceeds to  discuss  the  question  of  free-will,  which  has 
given  rise  to  so  much  controversy  in  the  Christian 
world,  and  which  is  far  from  being  settled  at  the 
present  day.  The  sentiments  of  Calvin  on  this 
subject,  being  appreciated  only  through  the  medi- 
um of  modern  Calvinists,  who,  without  any  ac- 
quaintance with  the  works  of  their  venerable  foun- 
der, have  adopted  his  general  sentiments  without 
examination,  and  maintained  them  in  many  in- 
stances upon  different  grounds  than  those  upon 
which  he  professedly  rested  them  ;  a  few^  extracts 
will,  perhaps,  serve  the  double  purpose  of  correct- 
ing the  mistakes  too  prevalent  on  the  subject,  and 
of  doing  justice  to  our  author. 

"  Having  shewn,"  he  observes,  "  that  the  tyran- 
ny of  sin,  since  it  subdued  Adam  our  first  father, 
has  not  only  been  extended  over  all  men,  but  has 
also  taken  possession  of  their  whole  souls,  we  are 
now  to  inquire  whether,  since  we  have  been  thus 
engaged  in  this  miserable  slavery,  we  have  entirely 

*  Instit.  lib.  ii.  cap.  1. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  2iib 

lost  our  liberty,  or  whether  we  retain  any  portion 
of  itj  and  of  what  strength  it  is.  But  the  more 
easily  to  throw  light  upon  this  question,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  propose  an  end  to  which  we  may  refer  the 
whole  dispute.  The  best  means  to  avoid  error,  is 
to  consider  attentively  the  dangers  which  present 
themselves  on  either  side.  When  man  discovers 
liimself  to  be  destitute  of  all  good,  he  immediately 
takes  occasion  to  become  careless.  For  being  told 
that  he  has  no  ability  in  himself  to  do  good,  he 
takes  no  pains  to  endeavour  so  to  do,  as  though  he 
had  no  concern  in  it.  On  the  other  hand,  if  any 
thing  good  be  attributed  to  him,  immediately  a 
false  confidence  is  excited,  and  he  robs  God  of  a 
part  of  the  glory  which  is  his  due.  In  order  to 
avoid  these  equally  dangerous  rocks,  we  must,  in 
my  opinion,  take  the  following  course.  In  con- 
vincing man,  that  in  him  tliere  dwelleth  no  good 
thing,  and  that  he  is  on  all  sides  surrounded,  thus 
to  speak,  b}'  a  miserable  indigence,  we  should  at  the 
same  time  teach  him  to  aspire  both  to  the  good  of 
which  he  is  destitute,  and  to  the  liberty  of  which 
he  is  deprived,  and  that  he  should  attend  more  ear- 
nestly to  those  duties  than  if  he  believed  that  he 
was  enriched  with  goodness,  and  endowed  with 
extensive  ability. 

*'  With  respect  to  the  first,  which  consists  in 
making  him  feel  his  poverty  and  his  misery,  many 
persons  entertain  doubts  which  they  need  not.  It 
is  true  that  man  ought  not  to  be  deprived  of  any 
thing  belonging  to  him  ;  but  it  is  infinitely  impor- 
23 


266 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 


tant  to  deprive  him  entirely  of  vanity  and  false 
glory.  The  Scriptures,  when  they  speak  of  the 
excellent  dignity  with  which  man  was  adorned  at 
his  creation,  refer  it  to  his  having  been  created  in 
the  image  of  God.  By  which  they  clearly  shew 
that  he  was  not  independently  rich,  and  that  all 
his  opulence  and  blessedness  was  derived  to  him 
through  the  communion  which  he  enjoyed  with 
God,  and  by  the  participation  of  his  favours. 

"  It  is,  besides,  no  less  useful  to  us,  than  it  is 
necessary  to  support  the  glory  of  God  undimi- 
nished, to  deprive  us  of  all  the  praise  of  virtue  and 
of  wisdom.  To  walk  and  to  fight  depending  upon 
our  own  strength,  what  is  it  but  to  lean  upon  a 
reed  which  will  break  under  us  ?  On  which  ac- 
count, Austin  so  frequently  remarks,  '  that  those 
who  defend  free-will,  while  they  are  endeavouring 
to  establish  its  rights,  rather  overthrow  than  sup- 
port it.'"* 

Having  thus  introduced  the  subject,  our  author 
proceeds  to  quote  the  sentiments  of  the  ancient 
philosophers,  as  well  as  those  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Christian  church;  in  which,  however,  we  shall  not 
follow  him,  as  the  object  of  the  present  work  is 
rather  to  display  the  sentiments  of  tlie  reformer, 
than  to  treat  any  particular  subject  fully.  Those 
who  are  inclined  to  pursue  this  question  at  length, 
will  see  it  discussed  in  a  masterly  and  convincing 
manner,  by  the  celebrated  Jonathan  Edwards,  in 

*  In  Evangel.  Joan,  tract  22. — Instit.  lib.  ii.  cap.  2. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  267 

his  work  on  the  Freedom  of  the  Will,  in  which  the 
subject  is  treated  with  the  acumen  of  a  Locke,  and 
the  piety  of  a  Watts. 

Pursuing  the  subject,  our  author  observes, 
•'  That  sentence  of  Chrysostom  has  ever  pleased 
me,  that  the  foundation  of  our  philosophy  is  hu- 
mility. The  discourse  of  Austin  still  more,  where 
he  uses  these  expressions  i — '  As  Demosthenes,  the 
celebrated  Greek  orator,  being  asked  what  was  the 
first  rule  of  eloquence  ?  replied  that  it  was  action  ; 
and  when  asked  what  was  the  second,  and  what  the 
third  ?  gave  still  the  same  answer,  that  it  was  action ; 
'  So,'  saith  he,  '  if  you  ask  me  what  are  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Christian  religion,  I  will  reply  that  the 
first,  the  second,  and  the  third  are — Humility.' 
By  this  humility  he  by  no  means  intends  a  dispo- 
sition of  soul,  which  simply  prevents  a  man,  upon 
the  supposition  of  some  good  quality,  from  becom- 
ing proud ;  but  a  virtue  which  makes  him  truly 
feel  what  he  is  ;  and  which  compels  him  to  acknow- 
ledge, that  the  only  asylum  which  is  open  to  him, 
and  to  which  he  can  repair,  is  to  humble  himself 
before  his  Creator. 

"  Let  us  not,  therefore,  enter  into  a  contest  with 
the  Divine  Being  on  the  subject  of  our  rights,  as 
though  what  we  attributed  to  him  constituted  our 
indigence.  For  as  our  meanness  contrasted  shews 
his  grandeur,  so  the  confession  which  we  make  of 
it  has  ever  his  mercy  for  its  remedy.  I  do  not,  in- 
deed, desire  that  man  should  concede  to  God  any 
part  of  his  rights,  without  being  previously  con- 


268  WRITINGS    OF    CaLVIN. 

vinced  of  his  imbecility ;  and  that  in  order  to  be 
formed  to  a  true  Immility,  he  should  divert  his  at- 
tention from  his  own  faculties;  but  I  demand  only 
that,  disengaging  himself  from  that  fond  love  which 
he  bears  towards  himself,  and  from  that  ambition 
which  is  so  natural  to  him  ;  from  his  passions,  I 
say,  by  which  he  is  but  too  much  blinded,  he  will 
contemplate  himself  in  the  faithful  mirror  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

With  what  has  been  commonly  alleged  from  St. 
Austin,  I  am  far  from  being  dissatisfied,  as  I  have 
already  intimated  ;  which  is,  that  the  natural  gifts 
of  man  have  been  corrupted  by  sin,  and  that  the 
supernatural  are  entirely  abolished.  By  superna- 
tural gifts  must  be  understood,  the  light  of  faith, 
the  uprightness  of  the  heart,  with  reference  to  a 
heavenly  life  and  eternal  felicity.  Man,  then, 
having  abandoned  the  kingdom  of  God,  has  been 
deprived  of  the  spiritual  gifts,  with  which  he  was 
furnished  for  his  salvation.  From  whence  it  fol- 
lows, that  he  hath  been  so  banished  from  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  that  all  the  faculties  and  powers 
which  belong  to  the  blessed  life  of  the  soul  are  ex- 
tinguished, until  recovered  by  regeneration ;  such 
jis  love  to  God,  charity  towards  our  neighbour, 
the  desire  to  live  in  holiness  and  righteousness. 
Now  all  these  being  restored  to  us  by  Jesus  Christ, 
and  as  they  cannot  be  attributed  to  our  nature, 
since  they  are  foreign  to  us,  it  must  necessarily  be 
concluded  that  they  ^^ere  abolished  in  us.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  light  of  the  mind,  and  uprightness 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  269 

of  heart,  we  are  deprived  of;  and  therein  consists 
the  corruption  of  our  natural  gifts.  For  though  we 
still  retain  a  portion  of  judgment  and  of  intelli- 
gence, conjoined  with  the  will,  we  can  by  no  means 
say  that  our  understanding  is  perfect,  weak  and 
plunged  into  thick  darkness  as  it  is  ;  nor  that  our 
will  is  pure  and  holy,  since  its  malice  and  rebellion 
are  but  too  well  known  to  us.  Thus  reason,  by 
which  man  conceives  and  judges  of  things  to  dis- 
tinguish good  from  evil,  being  a  natural  gift, 
could  not  possibly  be  entirely  extinguished,  but 
became  weakened  and  corrupted  in  part,  so  that 
there  appeared  no  longer  any  thing  but  gloomy, 
terrific  ruins. 

"  In  this  sense  St.  John  says,  that,  *  The  light 
shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehend- 
ed it  not ;'  where  he  clearly  expresses  these  two 
things,  that  in  the  nature  of  man,  however  perverse 
and  corrupt,  sparks  of  light  shine,  which  discover 
him  to  be  a  reasonable  animal,  distinguished  from 
the  brutes  by  being  endowed  with  intelligence; 
but  that  these  sparks  are,  however,  smothered  by  a 
dense  ignorance,  from  which  it  is  incapable  of  sepa- 
rating itself  to  produce  any  good  effect.  The  will 
also  being  inseparable  from  nature,  is  equally  in- 
capable of  being  amiihilated ;  but  is  also  become 
so  entirely  the  slave  of  base  affections,  that  it  is  in- 
capable of  desiring  any  thing  really  good." 

That  tlie  light  of  the  understanding  is  not  abso" 
luteJy  extinguuhed,  our  author  proceeds  to  explain, 
by  shewing  that  an  application  of  the  mental  pow* 
23^ 


270  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN* 

ers  to  any  specific  object,  is  not  unattended  with 
utility  and  pleasure.  Applied  to  things  terrestrial, 
such  as  laws,  civil,  political,  and  economical ;  me- 
chanics, philosophy,  and  the  various  arts  called 
liberal;  the  understanding,  usefully  employed,  pro- 
motes individual  and  social  happiness,  by  amelior- 
ating the  condition  of  society,  by  illustrating  the 
principles,  and  enforcing  the  O(,bligations  of  distri- 
butive justice.  Man,  being  a  social  animal,  is  im- 
pelled by  a  natural  inclination  to  promote  the  pros- 
perity of  society.  Upon  this  principle,  human  nature 
appears  pervaded  with  a  general  impression  that  all 
human  societies  ought  to  be  governed  by  certain 
laws,  the  principles  of  which  are  engraved  in  the  hu- 
man mind.  Nor  is  the  opposition  made  by  individu- 
als to  existing  laws  to  be  construed  into  an  exception 
to  this  general  principle  ;  since  it  demonstrates  only 
the  ascendancy  of  the  passions  over  the  judgment, 
and  discovers  that  they  hate  in  their  heart  what 
they  approve  in  their  understanding.  The  variety 
of  opinions  discoverable  on  the  legislation  of  par- 
ticular governments  and  individuals,  as  it  includes 
a  recognition  of  the  importance  of  some  form  of 
government,  discovers  only  the  imperfection  of  the 
light  of  nature,  which  is  far  from  indicating  the 
last  and  most  perfect  form  of  government,  which 
should  exclude  all  possibility  of  exception,  and  all 
inducement  to  opposition. 

As  human  nature  is  in  general  distinguished  from 
the  brute  creation  by  understanding ;  the  inferior 
animals   by   instinct,  from  inanimate  beings^  so 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  271 

there  is  also  a  variety  of  endowments  amongst  ra- 
tional beings,  calculated,  by  displaying  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  Divine  Being  in  those  instances  of 
diversity,  to  repress  the  tendency  to  pride,  which 
is  unhappily  so  general,  and  so  much  to  be  re- 
gretted. The  endowments  of  individuals  are,  by 
Divine  Providence,  adapted  to  the  stations  which 
they  occupy,  and  the  duties  which  they  are  called 
to  the  discharge  of  But  in  this  diversity  we  are 
furnished  with  various  evidence  of  an  impress  of 
divinity ;  surrounded,  indeed,  by  much  acquired 
darkness  and  imperfection;  but  still  indicative  of 
the  original  greatness,  and  perpetual  responsibility 
of  every  human  agent. 

But,  if  we  inquire  into  the  capabilities  of  human 
reason,  with  reference  to  seeking  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  or  comprehending  heavenly  wisdom,  we 
shall  soon  perceive  a  miserable  deficiency,  which 
admits  of  one  only  remedy — Divine  illumination. 
'^  Heavenly  wisdom,"  according  to  our  author, 
*•  consists  in  knowing  the  three  following  things : 
First,  what  is  the  nature  of  God;  secondly,  what 
is  the  nature  of  his  favour  and  good-will  towards 
us,  which  includes  our  salvation  ;  and,  finally,  what 
rule  we  ought  to  follow,  in  order  to  conform  our 
lives  to  his  law.  With  regard  to  the  two  first  arti- 
cles, and  especially  the  second,  the  most  subtle, 
vivacious,  and  enlightened  persons,  are  totally 
blind.  I  do  not  deny  but  that  in  the  books  of  the 
philosophers  we  meet  with  beautiful  and  exquisite 
sentences  respecting  the  Divinity,  written  with  a 


272  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

gfeat  deal  of  ingenuity  and  elegance;   but  there 
always  appears  so  much  inconstancy,  and  so  little 
firmness,  that  it  is  easy  to  perceive  their  imagina- 
tions were  wild  and  confused.     It  is  true,  as   we 
have  already  remarked,  that  God  hath  given  them 
some  glimpse  of  his  majest}^,  that  they  might  not 
cover   their  impiety  with  a  vain  pretext  of  igno- 
rance.    But  they  have  so  seen  objects,  as  not  to  be 
conducted  thereby  to  pursue  truth — much  less  have 
they  arrived  at  it.     These  persons,  with  their  pre- 
tended illuminations,  may,  I  conceive,  be  well  com- 
pared to  a  man,  who,  finding  himself  at  night  in 
the  middle  of  a  field,  in  a  thunder-storm,  sees  by 
the  flashes  of  lightning  a  conaderable  extent  round 
about  him,  but  it  is  only  instantaneous.     So  that 
all  this  light  is  of  no  use  to  conduct  him,  since  it 
.disappears  so   suddenly,  that  before  he  is  able  to 
advance  a  step,  he  is  replunged  into  darkness ;  thus 
is  it  wholly  impossible  for  him  to  recover  his  road 
by  such  a  help.     Besides,  those  sparks  of  truth 
which  shine  occasionally  in  the  books  of  the  phi- 
losophers, by  what  clouds  of  errors  are  they  not 
encompassed?     Let  us,  therefore,   conclude    that 
human  reason  can  never  by  its  own  strength  dis- 
cover truth;  that  it  can  never  of  itself  comprehend 
who  is  the  true  God,  and  in  what  relation  he  will 
stand  to  us. 

"  St.  Paul  is  remarkably  clear  in  treating  this 
subject.  Having  assumed  that  the  wisdom  of  man 
is  full  of  folly  and  of  vanity,  he  thus  concludes  the 
subject:  *  But  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  273 

things  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  for  they  are  foolish- 
ness unto  him  :  neither  can  he  know  them,  because 
they  are  spiritually  discerned.'  Who  then  is  this 
natural  man,  unless  it  be  him  who  prides  himself  on 
the  light  of  nature?  But,  naturally,  such  a  man 
understands  nothing  in  spiritual  things.  Where- 
fore f  Is  it  owing  to  idleness,  which,  engrossing 
his  mind,  makes  him  neglect  to  acquire  the  know- 
ledge of  them  ?  By  no  means ;  for  should  he  employ 
his  utmost  strength  and  intelligence,  he  would  still 
fall  short  of  it,  for  they  must  be  spiritually  discerned, 
saith  St.  Paul,  since  it  is  by  a  spiritual  judgment, 
disentangled  from  carnal  passions,  that  we  ought 
to  judge  thereof.  By  which  he  intends,  that,  being 
hidden  and  impenetrable  to  the  understandings  of 
men,  they  have  been  discovered  and  manifested  to 
us  by  the  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  So  that  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  wisdom  of  God  are  but  folly  to 
man,  until  he  becomes  enlightened  by  his  grace. 

"  What  he  denies,  however,  to  men,  he  attributes 
to  God  in  another  place,  beseeching  him  to  bestow 
upon  the  Ephesians  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  re^ 
veladon.  By  these  words  we  learn,  that  whatever 
wisdom  or  revelation  the  world  contains,  is  a  gift 
of  God.  What  farther  does  he  say  ? — *  That  he 
would  enlighten  the  eyes  of  their  understanding.' 
They  are,  therefore,  blind,  since  they  stand  in  need 
of  a  new  illumination.  What  does  he  farther  add  ^ 
— '  That  ye  may  know  what  is  the  hope  of  his 
calling,  and  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  in- 
heritance in  the  saints.'     He  who  presumes  upon 


274  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

having"  more  intelligence  than  he  really  possesses, 
is  so  much  the  blinder,  as  he  does  not  perceive  his 
own  blindness. 

"  But  we  must  now  consider  that  other  faculty 
of  the  soul,  the  vAll,  in  which  free-will  properly 
consists,  if  indeed  there  be  any  in  man.  For  we 
have  already  seen  that  the  choice  depends  rather 
upon  the  will,  than  the  understanding.  And  first, 
lest  what  hath  been  taught  by  the  philosophers,  and 
commonly  received,  should  serve  to  establish  the 
uprightness  of  the  human  will,  that  is,  that  all 
creatures  desire  that  good  which  is  suitable  to 
them ;  let  it  be  observ^ed,  that  the  force  of  free-will 
ought  not  to  be  considered  with  reference  to  that 
desire  or  appetite,  which  proceeds  rather  from  a 
propensity  of  nature  than  the  deliberation  of  the 
iiiind.  The  schoolmen  even  confess  that  the  action 
of  free-will  consists  in  the  application  of  reason  to 
two  opposing  claims.  By  which  they  mean  that 
the  object  of  the  appetite  ought  to  be  submitted  to 
the  choice  of  the  will,  and  that  deliberation  ought 
to  precede  choice.  If  we  examine,  indeed,  the  na- 
ture of  that  desire  which  man  feels  naturally  after 
good,  we  shall  find  that  he  possesses  this  in  com- 
mon with  animals,  who  all  desire  their  own  advan- 
tage, and  who,  when  any  image  of  advantage 
strikes  their  senses,  pursue  it  with  all  their  might. 
The  question,  then,  whether  man  is  incited  by  a 
natural  feeling  to  desire  his  good,  has  nothing  to 
do  with  free-will,  which,  to  be  truly  free,  ought  to 
discern  the  good  which  it  desires  by  the  light  of 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  275 

reason;  and,  having  distinguished  it,  to  make 
choice  of  it;  and  having  chosen  it,  to  pursue  the 
enjoyment  of  it. 

*'  But  in  order  to  remove  every  difficulty,  we 
must  here  be  on  our  guard  against  two  false  con- 
clusions into  which  we  may  fall.  For  the  word 
appetite  does  not  signify  the  proper  motion  of  the 
will,  but  only  a  natural  inclination.  Secondly,  the 
word  good  is  not  to  be  understood  as  meaning 
righteousness  and  virtue,  but  those  things  which 
all  creatures  desire,  as  being  suitable  and  proper 
to  the  preservation  and  convenience  of  their  being. 
To  which  it  must  be  farther  added,  that  though 
man  passionately  desires  to  obtain  what  is  good 
and  suitable  for  him,  he  nevertheless  does  not  pur- 
sue it,  nor  apply  himself  to  search  after  it.  For 
there  is  no  person  who  does  not  desire  eternal  hap- 
piness, and  to  whom  it  would  not  be  gratifying; 
but  no  one  aspires  after  it,  until  he  is  excited  to  it 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Since  then  this  natural  de- 
sire by  no  means  proves  that  man  possesses  a  free- 
will, as  the  inclination  which  inferior  creatures 
have,  to  tend  to  the  perfection  of  their  nature,  by 
no  means  proves  that  there  is  any  freedom  in  them ; 
we  must  now  consider  whether  the  will  of  man, 
with  reference  to  other  things,  is  so  corrupted  that 
it  can  only  produce  evil ;  or  whether  any  portion 
of  it  remain  entire,  from  whence  any  good  desires 
may  proceed. 

"  Those  who  assert  that  by  the  original  favour 
of  God  we  are  capable  of  willing  efTectuallVj  ap- 


276  WRITINGS    OF    CALVliN. 

pear  to  imply  that  there  is  in  the  soul  a  faculty 
capable  of  aspiring  voluntarily  to  that  which  is 
good,  but  that  this  faculty  is  so  weak  as  not  to 
be  able  to  rise  to  a  firm  and  solid  affection,  or  to 
excite  man  to  exert  himself  to  obtain  the  enjoyment 
of  it.  Nor  is  there  any  doubt  but  that  the  school- 
men have  commonly  followed  this  opinion,  which 
they  have  taken  from  Origen,  and  other  ancient 
doctors,  so  that  when  they  consider  man  simply 
with  respect  to  his  nature,  they  represent  him  to  us 
in  the  language  of  St.  Paul:  '  For  the  good  that 
I  would,  I  do  not ;  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not, 
that  I  do.'  But  in  this  way  they  overthrow  the 
whole  argument  which  the  apostle  maintains  in  that 
passage  where  he  speaks  of  the  Christian  struggle 
(which  he  treats  more  briefly  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians)  that  tlie  faithful  experience  continually 
in  themselves,  the  flesh  lusting  against  the  Spirit, 
and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh.  Now  they  have 
not  the  spirit  in  a  way  of  nature,  but  by  the  grace 
of  regeneration.  That  the  apostle  is  speaking  of 
those  who  are  regenerated  is  clear;  for  having  said 
that  there  was  no  good  thing  in  him,  he  adds,  in 
explanation,  that  he  is  speaking  of  his  flesh.  On 
which  account  he  declares  that  he  does  not  commit 
the  evil,  and  says  that  it  is  sin  which  dwelleth  in 
him.  What  is  the  import  of  the  qualification,  *  In 
me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh  .^'  It  is  certainly  as  though 
he  had  said,  There  dwells  no  good  thing  in  me  of 
myself,  seeing  that  nothing  good  is  to  be  found  in 
my  flesh.     From  whence  arises  the  apology, — It  is 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  277 

no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  me. 
Which  is  true  of  the  faithful  alone,  who  are  aiming 
at  doing  good,  with  reference  to  their  minds.  Be- 
sides, the  conclusion  which  he  adds,  manifestly 
shews  this :  '  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the 
inward  man.  But  I  see  another  law  in  my  mem- 
bers, warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind.'  Who 
could  experience  such  a  combat  but  the  person 
who,  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  still  feels  the 
remains  of  sin  in  his  flesh?  On  which  account  St. 
Austin,  having  sometimes  explained  this  passage  of 
the  nature  of  man,  retracted  afterwards  his  expli- 
cation, as  false  and  ill  founded. 

"  If  we  once  allow,  indeed,  that  man  possesses 
the  smallest  inclination  to  that  which  is  good,  with- 
out the  grace  of  God,  how  shall  we  answer  the 
apostle,  who  denies  that  we  are  capable  of  even 
thinking  a  good  thought?^  What  shall  we  reply 
to  Jehovah,  who  declares  to  us  by  the  mouth  of 
Moses,  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of 
his  heart  was  only  evil  continually.^  f  Since,  then, 
they  have  imposed  upon  themselves  by  the  false  in- 
terpretation of  a  passage,  we  must  not  be  influ- 
enced by  their  fancy.  Let  us  rather  listen  to  what 
Jesus  Christ  addresses  to  us  in  his  gospel,  that 
whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the  servant  of  sin. 
But  we  are  all  sinners  by  nature;  it  follows,  there- 
fore, that  we  are  all  naturally  under  the  yoke  of 
sin.     That  if  man  be   altogether  subjected  to  the 

*  2  Cor.  iii.  5.  t  Gen.  vi.  5. 

24 


278  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

dominion  of  sin,  we  must  necessarily  conclude, 
that  the  will,  which  is  one  of  his  principal  facul- 
ties, is  also  captive,  and  bound  by  the  strongest 
fetters.  What  St.  Paul  also  asserts,  that  it  is  God 
who  worketh  in  us,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure,  is  not  to  be  maintained  upon  the 
supposition  of  our  will  preceding  the  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Far  be  from  us  then,  the  opinion  of 
all  those,  who  tell  us  of  1  know  not  what  prepara- 
tions and  dispositions  in  our  nature,  to  embrace 
that  which  is  good.  I  confess  that  believers,  after 
the  example  of  David,  beseech  God  to  dispose 
their  hearts  to  obey  his  law ;  but  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, that  the  very  desire  to  pray  proceeds  from 
God :  which  may  easily  be  gathered  from  the  words 
of  that  holy  prophet.  For,  beseeching  God  to 
create  in  him  a  new  heart,  he  does  not  even  attri- 
bute the  beginning  of  such  a  creation  to  himself 
Let  us,  therefore,  ratlier  receive  what  St.  Austin 
addresses  to  us  : — '  God,'  saith  he,  '  hath  pre- 
vented thee  hi  all  things.  Prevent  then  his  anger 
— but  how.'*  Confess  that  you  have  received  all 
from  him ;  that  all  the  good  which  you  possess 
proceeds  from  him,  and  all  the  evil  from  your- 
selves.    Nothing,'    saith  he,    '  belongs  to  us  but 


*  Instit.  lib.  ii.  cap.  2. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  279 


On  Justification. 

From  the  preceding  quotations  on  the  subject  of 
Free-will,  we  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  convinced  that 
man,  degraded  and  rendered  utterly  impotent  by 
the  fall,    must   be  absolutely  indebted  to  foreign 
assistance  for  his  recovery  and  elevation.     To  a 
mind  adequately  impressed  with    this  conviction, 
the  question,    "  How  shall  I  be  just  ivhh   GodV 
will  not  fail  to  recur  with  exquisitely  painful  inter- 
est, until  answered  by  an  accurate  and  comprehen- 
sive view  of  the  doctrine  of  justification,  derived 
from  the  infallible   source   of  truth.     When  it  is 
considered  that  the  law  of  God  enjoins  universal 
and  perpetual  obedience,  it  must  be  evident  that  a 
single   transgression   must  for   ever  preclude  the 
possibility  of  being  justified  by  a  broken  cove- 
nant ;    since   to  condemn  is  all  the  law   can   do, ' 
whose  reiterated  language  is,  "  the  soul  that  sin- 
neth,  it  shall  die."    It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  such 
a  righteousness  as  can  alone  be  available  for  justi^ 
fication,  can  never  proceed  from  the  law  of  Moses 
(as  the  apostle  asserts),  unless  the  same  law  which 
constitutes  sin,  and  threatens  the  guilty  with  pu- 
nishment,  can   at  the  same   time  be  supposed  to 
abate  its  claims  and  tolerate  iniquity,  which,  as  it 
supposes  it  to  be  mutable,  is  absurd.     To  conceive 
of  the  Divine  Being  as  enacting  a  law  illustrative 
of  the   immutable  holiness   of  his  nature,  and  to 
suppose  him  to  surrender  the  execution  of  its  pe- 


280  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

nalties  on  the  ground  of  a  partial  obedience  to  its 
precepts,  is  an  implication  that  either  the  law  is 
excessive  in  its  demands,  or  that  the  Supreme  Le- 
gislator is  merciful  at  the  expense  of  his  justice ; 
the  former  of  wliich  arraigns  the  wisdom,*  and  the 
latter  the  equity  of  Him  who  is  infinite  in  counsel, 
and  essentially  just.  The  nature  and  importance 
of  justification,  clearly  illustrated  by  the  apostle, 
in  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans^ 
and  in  the  first  verse,  furnish  us  with  convincing 
evidence  on  the  interesting  subject.  That  justifi- 
cation is  a  gratuitous  act  of  God,  placing  us  in  a 
state  of  salvation,  in  consideration  of  the  righte- 
ousness of  Jesus  Christ,  is  evident  from  the  con- 
nexion of  the  words,  which  by  a  very  unhappy  di- 
vision of  chapters  are  separated  from  the  premises 
from  which  they  are  an  inference.  The  formal 
ground  of  justification,  as  stated  in  the  Scriptures, 
appears  to  be  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  re- 
ceived by  faith;  consequently,  all  those  passages 
which  speak  of  justification  by  faith,  must  be  con- 
sidered as  standing  in  direct  opposition  to  works, 
as  forming  any  ground  of  acceptance  with  God ; 
and  as  containing  an  implied  sense,  that  it  is  not  as 
a  meritorious  principle,  that  faith  justifies;  but  as 
it  is  the  appropriation  of  a  gracious  provision, 
adapted  to  the  feelings  of  an  enlightened  consci- 
ence. "  It  is  necessary,"  says  our  author,  "  to 
explain  this  subject,  and  so  to  consider  this  article 
of  justification  by  faith,  as  to  be  impressed  with 
its  being  one  of  the  principal  points  of  the  Chris- 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  281 

liati  religion,  that  we  may  apply  ourselves  to  the 
examination  of  it,  with  all  the  attention  and  preci- 
sion of  which  we  are  capable.  For  as  we  have  no 
foundation  upon  which  to  rest  our  salvation,  unless 
we  know  in  what  light  God  views  us,  and  his  will 
concerning  us;  neither  can  we  without  this  know- 
ledge have  any  support  upon  which  we  can  place 
the  reverence  and  piety  which  are  due  to  him.  Let 
us,  therefore,  inquire  into  the  meaning  of  those  ex- 
pressions— To  he  justified  before  God;  to  he  justi- 
fied hy  faith;  or,  to  he  justified  hy  works. 

"  As  iniquity  is  abominable  in  the  eyes  of  God, 
it  is  impossible  for  man  to  find  favour  in  his  sight 
as  a  sinner,  or  while  he  is  considered  under  that 
character.  For  wherever  sin  is  found,  the  wrath 
and  vengeance  of  God  are  to  be  found  also.  He 
is,  therefore,  justified  who  is  not  considered  as  a 
sinner,  but  a  righteous  person ;  and  who,  on  that 
ground,  is  qualified  to  stand  before  the  tribunal  of 
God,  where  sinners  must  appear  with  confusion. 
For  example,  if  a  man  wrongfully  accused,  appear 
before  the  tribunal  of  an  equitable  judge,  and  be 
absolved  and  declared  innocent  after  due  examina- 
tion, it  must  of  course  be  said  that  he  is  justly 
cleared,  and  that  he  is  justified  from  the  crime  of 
which  he  was  accused.  We  say  also  that  man  is 
justified  before  God,  when,  being  separated  from 
the  number  of  sinners,  God  is  the  witness  and  as- 
serter  of  his  righteousness.  Thus  we  say  man  is 
justified  by  his  works,  when  his  life  exhibits  such 
purity  and  holiness  as  merit  to  be  approved  before 
24* 


282  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

the  tribunal  of  God  as  a  perfect  righteousness ;  or 
when,  by  the  innocence  and  perfection  of  his  works, 
he  can  satisfy  his  judgment.  On  the  contrary,  he 
is  said  to  be  justified  by  faith,  who,  excluded  from 
the  righteousness  of  works,  receives  by  faith  the 
righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  who,  clothed  in 
that  divine  righteousness,  appears  in  the  presence 
of  God,  not  as  a  sinner,  but  as  a  righteous  per- 
son. We  say,  then,  in  a  word,  that  our  justifica- 
tion is  a  gratuitous  acceptation,  by  which  God,  re- 
ceiving us  into  his  favour,  considers  us  as  just;  and 
we  shall  also  maintain  that  this  acceptation  con- 
sists in  the  imputation  of  the  righteousness  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  us  with  many  evident 
testimonies  to  confirm  what  we  have  now  advanced. 
I  will  only  allege  a  few,  in  which  tlie  subject  of 
justification  is  expressly  treated.  When  St.  Luke 
relates,  that  all  the  people  that  heard  him,  and  the 
publicans,  justified  God  ;  and  Jesus  Christ  declares 
that  wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children ;  the 
word  justify,  in  those  passages,  cannot  possibly 
signify  that  men  confer  righteousness  upon  God, 
which  ever  resides  essentially  and  perfectly  in  him, 
though  all  the  world  should  conspire  to  deprive 
him  of  it;  or  that  they  can  render  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  just,  since  it  is  so  in  itself;  but  both  mC'- 
ihods  of  speaking  imply,  that  those  whom  the  evan- 
gelist mentions,  attributed  to  God,  and  to  his  word, 
the  glory  and  praise  due  to  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  Jesus  Christ  reproaches  the  Pharisees 


1 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  283 

with  <  justifying  themselves  before  men,'  he  is  not 
to  be  miderstood  as  meaning  that  they  aimed  at 
the  acquisition  of  righteousness  by  doing  good ; 
but  that  from  an  ambitious  motive  they  aimed  at 
procuring  the  reputation  of  being  righteous,  though 
they  were  entirely  devoid  of  righteousness  itself. 

"  With  regard  to  the  subject  in  hand,  St.  Paul 
observes,  that  God,  in  the  Scriptures,  foreseeing 
that  he  would  justify  the  heathen  through  faith, 
preached  before  the  gospel,  unto  Abraham,  saying, 
*  In  thee  shall  all  nations  be  blessed.'  How  are 
we,  therefore,  to  understand  this  expression,  unless 
it  be  that  God  considers  them  as  righteous  through 
the  medium  of  faith  ?  Thus,  where  it  is  said  that 
God  '  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  which 
believeth  in  Jesus,'  what  meaning  can  we  attach  to 
the  expression,  unless  it  be,  that  by  means  of  faith 
he  delivereth  sinners  from  that  condemnation  which 
they  deserve  by  their  impiety  ?  which  he  expresses 
still  more  clearly  afterwards,  where  he  exclaims, 
^  Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's 
elect.?  It  is  God  that  justifieth.  Who  is  he  that 
condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather 
that  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us.'  For 
it  is  equivalent  to  saying.  Who  shall  accuse  those 
whom  God  absolves  ?  Who  shall  dare  to  condemn 
those  whom  God  undertakes  to  defend  .?  To  justify 
is,  therefore,  no  other  than  to  absolve  him  who  is 
accused,  and  to  free  him  from  condemnation  as 
though  his  personal  innocence  had  been  acknow- 


284  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

ledged.  Thus,  since  God  justifies  through  the  in- 
tervention of  Jesus  Christ,  he  absolves  us  not  on 
the  ground  of  our  personal  innocence,  but  by  im- 
puting to  us  the  righteousness  of  his  Son ;  so  that 
we  are  accounted  righteous  in  Jesus  Christ,  although 
not  so  in  ourselves. 

"  But  farther,  to  abandon  a  dispute  about  the 
word,  if  we  consider  with  attention  the  thing  itself, 
as  represented  to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  there  can  be 
no  difficulty.  For  St.  Paul  makes  use  of  the  word 
acceptance,  when  he  intends  to  shew  that  God  jus- 
tifies us.  ^  We  are,'  says  he,  '  predestinated  unto 
the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself, 
according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the 
praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace  wherein  he  hath 
made  us  accepted  in  the  beloved.'*  The  apostle's 
meaning  here  is  synonymous  with  what  he  expres- 
ses in  other  passages;  that  God  justifies  us  freely 
by  his  grace.  In  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  he  asserts  primarily  that  we  are 
just,  because  God  accounts  us  so  by  his  grace; 
after  which,  he  makes  our  justification  consist  in 
the  remission  of  sins.  '  Thus,'  says  he,  '  David 
also  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto 
whom  God  imputeth  righteousness  without  works, 
saying.  Blessed  are  they  whose  iniquities  are  for- 
given, and  whose  sins  are  covered.  Blessed  is  the 
man  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin.'  It  is 
evident  that  he  there  speaks,  not  of  a  detached  part 

*  Eph.  i.  5. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  285 

et  our  justification,  but  of  our  justification  entire. 
He  asserts  also  that  the  prophet  David  expresses 
it,  by  pronouncing  those  happy,  who  have  obtained 
the  gratuitous  pardon  of  their  faults.  From  whence 
it  appears  evidently,  that  he  considers  as  two  op- 
posite points,  being  justified,  and  being  considered 
as  guilty.  But  there  is  no  passage  more  express 
in  proof  of  my  assertion,  than  that  in  which  he 
teaches,  that  the  foundation  and  essence  of  the 
gospel  consists  in  reconciling  us  unto  God,  because 
God  is  willing  to  receive  us  into  his  favour,  by  not 
imputing  to  us  our  sins.  Let  the  reader  examine 
carefully  the  whole  text  of  the  apostle.  For  he 
immediately  adds,  that  Jesus  Christ,  who  knew  no 
sin,  w  as  made  sin  for  us ;  expressing  thereby  the 
method  of  our  reconciliation,  and  understanding, 
consequently,  nothing  by  the  word  to  reconcile, 
but,  to  justify.  Nor  can  his  expression  in  another 
place  be  maintained,  unless  we  are  considered  just 
before  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  out  of  ourselves."* 

Not  to  pursue  our  author  in  his  refutations  of  the 
wild  reveries  of  Osiander,  whom  he  opposes ;  let 
us  listen  to  the  language  in  which  he  celebrates  the 
praise  of  this  illustrious  doctrine,  as  it  secures  and 
promotes  that  peace  of  conscience,  which  passes  all 
understanding,  and  includes  the  pledge  and  anti- 
past  of  celestial  bliss. 

"  If  we  inquire,"  says  he,  "  how  the  conscience 
may  become  tranquil,  and  rejoice  before  God,  we 

*  Instit.  lib.  iii.  cap.ll. 


286  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

shall  find  that  it  is  not  possible  for  peace  and  joy 
to  reign  there,  unless  God  of  his  pure  mercy  con- 
fer upon  us  his  own  righteousness.  What  Solomon 
observes  in  his  Proverbs,  ought  ever  to  be  impressed 
upon  our  minds  :  '  Who  can  say,  I  have  made  my 
heart  clean,  I  am  pure  from  sinf  *  There  is  cer- 
tainly no  man  whose  heart  is  not  crowded  with  im- 
purities. Let  the  most  righteous  and  the  most 
perfect  examine  their  conscience  and  their  conduct. 
What  must  be  the  issue  of  such  a  process  ?  Dare 
they  quietly  take  their  repose,  as  though  they  had 
gained  their  cause  by  pleading  against  God,  and 
had  henceforth  nothing  to  transact  with  him  ?  On 
the  contrary,  if  they  are  estimated  according  to 
their  works,  will  they  not  be  rent  by  dreadful  tor- 
ments, while  they  experience  that  they  carry  about 
with  them  the  cause  of  their  condemnation  ?  The 
conscience,  as  it  respects  God,  must  either  enjoy 
peace  with  him,  without  fearing  his  judgment ;  or 
be  in  perpetual  alarms,  and,  as  it  were,  besieged  by 
inconceivable  terrors.  We,  therefore,  make  no 
progress  while  disputing  about  righteousness,  un- 
less we  establish  such  an  one,  upon  the  firmness  of 
which  our  souls  may  rest  and  be  supported  before 
the  tribunal  of  God. 

"  It  is,  therefore,  not  without  reason  that  the 
apostle  urges  this  argument,  whose  words  I  abun- 
dantly prefer  to  my  own.  '  If  they  which  are  of 
the  law  be  heirs,  faith  is  made  void,  and  the  pro- 
mise made  of  none  efiect.'f     He  infers,  that  faith 

*  Prov.  XX.  0.  t  Rom.  iv.  14. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  287 

becomes  useless  and  void,  if  righteousness  respects 
the  merits  of  our  works,  or  depends  upon  the  ob- 
servance of  the  law. 

*'  The  ground  of  assurance  is  explained  by  this 
apostle,  and  stated  to  be  the  love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is 
given  unto  us.*  As  if  he  had  said,  our  souls  can 
never  be  in  a  calm  and  tranquil  state,  unless  we  are 
firmly  persuaded  that  we  are  acceptable  to  God. 
Whence,  personating  believers  universally,  he  ex- 
claims, *  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
Christ  f'f  For  until  we  have  reached  this  haven, 
the  least  storm  will  be  sufficient  to  alarm  us,  every 
gust  of  wind  will  make  us  tremble ;  but  when  God 
shall  espouse  our  cause  as  our  Shepherd,  we  shall 
walk  with  confidence  through  darkness,  and  even 
through  the  shadow  of  death. "J 


On  the  Perseverance  of  the  Saints. 

Against  the  doctrine  of  the  final  perseverance  of 
the  saints,  an  opposition  has  been  raised  and  per- 
petuated, not  merely  on  a  presumption  of  the  erro- 
neous nature,  but  also  of  the  dangerous  tendency 
of  the  sentiment.  How  far  it  deserves  such  treat- 
ment, may  be  ascertained  from  the  following  view 
of  the  doctrine  itself. 

*  Rom.  V.  5.    t  Rom.  viii.  35.    t  Instit,  lib.  iii.  cap.  13. 


288  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

"  It  is  affirmed,  that  those  whom  Jesus  Chri!^t 
bath  enlightened  with  the  knowledge  of  himself, 
and  introduced  into  the  bosom  of  his  church,  are 
received,  and  taken  under  his  protection;  and  of 
all  whom  he  receives,  it  is  farther  said,  that  the 
Father  hath  committed  them  unto  him,  and  given 
him  the  charge  of  them,  to  conduct  them  to  eternal 
life.  What  more  can  be  desired  ?  Jesus  Christ 
proclaims  in  his  gospel,  that  the  Father  hath 
placed  under  his  protection  all  those  whose  salva- 
tion he  hath  decreed.*  Do  we  wish  to  know 
whether  God  is  careful  about  our  salvation?  let  us 
examine  his  word,  and  inquire  if  he  hath  not  in- 
trusted it  to  Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  hath  appointed 
to  be  the  Saviour  of  all  who  are  intrusted  to  him. 
If  we  doubt  whether  Jesus  Christ  hath  placed  vis 
under  his  protection,  he  anticipates  the  doubt  by 
representing  himself  as  our  Shepherd,  and  decla- 
ring that  he  will  receive  us  into  the  number  of  his 
sheep,  if  we  will  hear  his  voice.  Let  us,  then, 
embrace  him,  since  he  presents  himself  to  us  with 
so  much  benignity,  and  anticipates  our  reception. 
Doubtless  he  will  place  us  in  the  number  of  the 
sheep  of  his  flock,  and  guard  us  in  his  fold. 

"  But  to  this  it  may  be  objected,  that  we  ought 
to  be  solicitous  with  respect  to  what  may  happen 
to  us ;  and  that  when  we  contemplate  futurity,  our 
infirmities  admonish  us  to  be  continually  solici- 
tous.   For,   as  St.  Paul  says,  the  people  of  God 

*  John  vi.  37;  and  xvii.  6 — 12. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  289 

*  are  called  according  to  his  purpose.'  Jesus  Christ 
also  informs  us  that,  though  '  many  are  called,  few 
are  chosen.'  St.  Paul  himself,  in  another  place, 
cautions  us  against  security;  'Wherefore,'  says  he, 
'  let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest 
he  fall.'  Experience,  indeed,  teaches  us  that  our 
faith  and  calling  are  but  of  comparatively  little 
consequence,  unless  perseverance,  which  is  not 
universally  bestowed,  be  joined  to  them. — To  this 
I  reply,  that  Jesus  Christ  hath  delivered  us  from 
this  uneasiness  and  perplexity.  For  there  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  his  promises  relate  to  futurity. 

*  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me,  shall  come  to  me; 
and  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out.  This  is  the  Father's  will,  which  hath  sent 
me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath  given  me  I  should 
lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  again  at  the 
last  day.'*  '  My  sheep,'  saith  he,  elsewhere,  '  hear 
my  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they  follow  m^. 
And  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall 
never  perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of 
my  hand.  My  Father  which  gave  them  me  is 
greater  than  all :  and  none  is  able  to  pluck  them 
out  of  my  Father's  hand.'f 

*'  By  declaring,  also,  that  every  plant  not  planted 
by  his  heavenly  Father,  should  be  rooted  up,  he 
teaches  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  not  possible 
that  those  who  have  taken  deep  root  in  God, 
should  be  rooted  up.     In  unison  with  which  are 

*  John  vi.  37,  39, 40.    t  John  x.  27—29. 
25 


290  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

those  words  of  the  apostle  John :  '  They  went  out 
from  us,  but  they  were  not  of  us :  for  if  they  had 
been  of  us,  they  would  no  doubt  have  continued 
with  us.'  It  was  on  this  ground  that  the  apostle 
Paul  exulted  so  boldly  over  life  and  death,  over 
things  present  and  things  to  come.  Which  could 
only  be  founded  upon  the  certain  persuasion  of  his 
perseverance.  And  he  doubtless  addresses  himself 
to  the  whole  body  of  the  elect,  in  the  following  ex- 
pression :  '  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing, 
that  he  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will 
perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ.'  David, 
also,  feehng  his  faith  shaken  by  the  violence  of 
temptation,  leans  upon  this  prop:  '  The  Lord,' 
saith  he,  *  will  perfect  that  which  concerneth  me: 
thy  mercy,  O  Lord,  endureth  for  ever  ;  forsake  not 
the  works  of  thine  own  hands.'  Besides  which,  it 
is  not  to  be  doubted  that  Jesus  Christ,  praying  for 
the  elect,  besought  for  them  what  he  requested  for 
St.  Peter,  '  that  their  faith  might  not  fail.'  From 
whence  we  conclude  that  they  are  out  of  danger  of 
falling  into  apostacy,  since  the  Son  of  God  having 
prayed  on  their  behalf,  that  they  might  remain 
firm  and  constant,  was  not  denied  his  petition. 
What  does  Jesus  Christ,  therefore,  intend  to  teach 
us  here  ?  Certainly,  that  our  eternal  salvation  is 
secured,  by  the  circumstance  of  our  having  been 
once  given  to  Jesus  Christ. 

"  But  it  occurs  daily  (it  will  be  said),  that  those' 
who  appear  to  belong  to  Jesus  Christ,  fail  away 
and  revolt.     And  that  even  in  the  passage  where 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 


291 


he  declares,  that  none  whom  the  Father  had  given 
him  could  be  lost,  he  excepts  the  son  of  perdition. 
This  is  true;  but  it  is  on  the  other  hand  certain, 
that  those  persons  have  never  adhered  to  Jesus 
Christ  with  that  confidence  of  heart,  upon  which 
we  assert  the  assurance  of  our  election  to  be  found- 
ed. '  They  went  out  from  us,'  as  we  have  just 
heard  from  St.  John,  '  but  they  were  not  of  us  ;  for 
if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would  no  doubt,  have 
continued  with  us.'  I  do  not  deny  but  that  they 
may  have  the  same  marks  of  their  calling  as  those 
of  the  elect;  but  I  cannot  allow  them  that  firm 
and  solid  foundation  of  election  which  I  enjoin  the 
faithful  to  seek  in  the  word  of  the  gospel.  Let 
not  these  examples,  therefore,  make  us  uneasy,  nor 
prevent  our  tranquil  repose  upon  the  promises  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  in  which  he  expressly  declares, 
that  the  Father  hath  given  him  all  those  who  have 
received  him  with  a  genuine  faith,  and  that  none  of 
them  shall  perish,  since  he  is  their  guardian  and 
protector.     We  shall  speak  elsewhere  of  Judas. 

"  As  to  what  relates  to  St.  Paul,  he  by  no  means 
absolutely  prohibits  all  kinds  of  confidence,  but  a 
certain  carnal  indolence,  and  contempt  of  other 
men ;  an  indolence  which  extinguishes  humility, 
overthrows  the  respect  and  reverence  which  we 
owe  to  God,  and  which  leads  men  to  forget  his  be- 
nefits. For  in  that  passage  he  is  addressing  the 
Gentiles,  whom  he  teaches  that  they  ought  not  to 
insult  the  Jews,  under  the  pretext,  that  their  having 
been  rejected,  they  had  been  substituted  in  their 


292  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

place.  The  fear  which  he  requires  is  not  a  fear 
which  should  induce  consternation,  but  a  fear 
which,  instructing  us  to  revere  with  humility  the 
grace  of  God,  abates  in  no  degree  the  confidence 
which  we  feel  in  him,  as  we  have  elsewhere  ex- 
plained it. 

"  Add  to  this,  that  he  is  not  addressing  his  dis- 
course particularly  to  individual  believers,  but  in 
general  to  the  sects  which  then  existed  amongst 
men.  For  the  church  was  at  that  time  divided  in- 
to two  parties  ;  and  envy  and  pride  being  the  cause 
of  that  divorce,  St.  Paul  admonishes  the  Pagans, 
that  if  they  were  put  in  the  place  of  the  holy  peo- 
ple, peculiarly  consecrated  to  God,  such  a  circum- 
stance ought  to  furnish  them  with  a  motive  to  fear 
and  modesty.  Besides,  there  were  many  of  them 
filled  with  vanity,  whose  pride  and  presumption  it 
was  necessary  to  overthrow.  We  have  also  seen 
already,  that  our  hope  must  be  extended  to  futurity, 
and  even  beyond  death;  and  that  nothing  is  more 
opposed  to  the  nature  of  hope,  than  to  be  in  doubt 
and  uncertainty  with  respect  to  what  may  happen 
to  us  in  futurity."  * 

The  above  quotations  will,  no  doubt,  convey  to 
the  mind  of  the  reader  an  accurate  conception  of 
the  real  sentiments  of  our  author.  The  impor- 
tance of  those  sentiments  will  justify,  it  is  hoped, 
the  extent  of  quotation  adopted,  and  supersede  the 
necessity  of  an  apology. 

*  In^tit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  24. 


WRITIxXGS    OF    CALVIN.  293 


A  considerable  degree  of  interest  having  been 
excited  on  the  subject  of  the  doctrinal  sentiments 
of  the  Church  of  England,  it  would  perhaps  appear 
a  real  defect  in  a  work  of  this  description,  to  de- 
cline all  notice  of  the  subject.  To  the  writer  of  the 
present  work,  the  coincidence  of  the  Articles  and 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  with  the  leading 
truths  of  Calvinism,  appears  so  evident,  that  nothing 
more  can  be  necessary,  in  his  opinion,  than  a  sim- 
ple and  unprejudiced  comparison,  to  establish  the 
conviction. 

By  those  who  are  acquainted  with  ecclesiastical 
history,  it  will  also  be  recollected,  that  Calvin  re- 
vised llie  English  Liturgy ;  and  that  upon  his  sug- 
gestion, several  important  alterations  were  made  in 
it.  That  he  corresponded  with  Cranmer,  and  that 
on  doctrinal  sentiments,  there  existed  an  entire 
uniformity  of  sentiment  between  the  English  and 
foreign  reformers.  Diftering  widely  as  did  Cran- 
mer and  Calvin,  on  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  it  must  be  obvious  to  every  one,  that 
the  instances  in  which  the  judgment  of  Calvin  was 
consulted,  must  relate  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively, 
to  doctrine.  To  denominate  the  Articles  of  the 
Church  of  England  Arminian,  is  an  instance  of 
the  grossest  absurdity,  as  they  were  drawn  up  long 
before  Arminius  was  born.  To  persons  disposed 
to  investigate  the  subject  fully,  the  writer  would 
25* 


294  WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN. 

earnestly  recommend   Toplady^s  Historic  Proof  of 
the  Calvinism  of  the  Church  of  England,  in  which 
work  the  fact  is  absokitely  demonstrated.^ 

"With  a  modesty  worthy  of  himself,  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln  has  recently  published  a  work,  entitled, 
*  A  Refutation  of  Calvinism.'  Before  his  lordship 
writes  any  more  '  Refutations'  of  systems  which  he 
does  not  understand,  it  is  to  be  hoped  he  will  at 
least  inform  himself  as  it  respects  his  own  side  of 
the  controversy.  Besides  imputing  to  the  Calvin- 
ists  some  things  which  belong  to  no  existing  sect ; 
some  in  a  sense  which  they  disown;  and  some 
which  dire  pectdiar  to  other  sects  ;  more  than  half  of 
his  lordship's  quotations  from  the  fathers  have  no 
bearing  on  the  subject ;  and  several  of  the  remain- 
der militate  against  his  own  avowed  opinions. 
But  his  lordship's  master-piece  consists  in  his  quo- 
ting, as  the  language  of  modern  Calvinism,  a  pas- 
sage from  one  of  the  Homilies  of  the  Church  of 
England  ! ! !  His  lordship  being  therefore  a  con- 
troversial suicide,  the  verdict  of  a  jury  of  critics 
can  be  no  other  than  that  offelo  de  5e."  f 

The  coincidence  of  Calvinism-  with  our  common 
Christianity,  being  so  intimate,  as  to  subject  its  as- 

*  See  also  "  The  Fathers,  the  Reformers,  and  the  For- 
mularies of  the  Church  of  England,  in  Harmony  with 
Calvin,  and  against  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln.  By  a  Lay- 
man."— A  masterly  work. 

t  Speech  of  Mr.  John  Mackenzie,  at  the  Aniversary 
Meeting  of  the  Auxiliary  Bible  Society;  for  the  County  ci 
Huntingdon,  1812. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  295 

sailants  to  the  charge  of  criminal  ignorance ;  the 
earnest  caution  of  an  eminent  divine,  lately  de- 
ceased, who  was  grieved  to  observe  with  what 
"  little  knowledge  of  the  subject  some  adventured 
to  write  against  Calvinism,"  deserves  the  serious 
attention  of  every  inquirer  after  religious  truth: — 
*'  Take  especial  care,  before  you  aim  your  shafts 
at  Calvinism,  that  you  know  what  is  Calvinism, 
and  what  is  not:  that  in  the  mass  of  doctrine  which 
it  is  of  late  become  the  fashion  to  abuse  under  the 
name  of  Calvinism,  you  can  distinguish  with  cer- 
tainty between  that  part  of  it  which  is  nothing  bet- 
ter than  Calvinism,  and  that  which  belongs  to  our 
common  Christianity,  and  the  general  faith  of  the 
reformed  churches ;  lest,  when  you  mean  only  to 
fall  foul  of  Calvinism,  you  should  unwarily  attack 
something  more  sacred  and  of  higher  origin."* 


From  the  preceding  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and 
Writings  of  our  Reformer,  it  is  not,  perhaps,  an 
undue  inference,  that  the  reader  is  disposed  to  place 
the  subject  of  them  in  the  very  first  rank  of  emi- 
nent and  important  characters.  Endowed  with  the 
brightest  intellect,  and  enriched  with  the  most  ex- 
alted attainments,  it  is  certain  that  Calvin  had  but 
few  equals  amongst  his  contemporaries.  But  it  is 
neither  the  grasp  of  his  intellect,  nor  the  extent  of 

*  Bishop  Horsley's  Last  Charge. 


296  WRITINGS    OF    CALV1>. 

his  aitainmenis,  which  con>iitiites  tke  point  ol  ad- 
miraiion  in  liis  character.  It  is  the  consecration  of 
his  atiaimuents,  and  of  his  energies,  to  the  best  of 
causes,  the  muhiplicity  and  severity  of  his  labours, 
and  their  practical  iuduence  upon  society,  that  con- 
stitute the  ele\-ation  which  distinguishes  him  from 
inferior  characters,  and  lixes  the  gaze  of  posterity. 
Of  his  eminence  in  h\tcr  life,  his  expanding  mind 
gave  early  promise;  for  at  the  age  of  twenty-two, 
be  was  accounted  the  most  learned  man  in  Europe. 
That  he  redeemed  this  pledge,  is  matter  of  histo- 
ric record.  His  works  constitute  a  moniuiient  of 
posthumous  fame,  more  durable  than  brass  ;  and 
he  is  by  nothing  more  distinguished,  than  by  that 
attribute  of  a  great  mind — humility.  In  all  his 
works,  we  discover  that  grandeur  and  purity  of 
mind,  which  necessarily  results  from  tlie  under- 
standing being  brought  into  contact  with  the  veri- 
ties o(  the  Christian  faith.  He  had  surveyed  the 
heavenly  land  with  acciu-acy  and  delight ;  and  the 
clusters  which  he  bore  from  tlience,  constituted  his 
fair  report.  Next  to  the  inspired  writers  tliem- 
selves,  tliere  is.  perhaps,  no  autlior  who  has  infused 
so  much  of  the  spirit  of  Cluristianity  into  his  works. 
The  richest  views  of  doctrinal  truth  are  every  where 
combined  with  the  practical  claims  of  Christianity. 
We  feel  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  a  teacher,  who 
not  only  illustrates  with  perspicuity,  but  enforces 
with  authority,  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  reli- 
gion :  and  the  admiration  we  feel  for  his  genius  is 
only  surpassed  by  the  veneration  which  we  enter- 
tain for  his  piety. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  297 

When  it  is  recollected  that  the  writings  of  Calvin 
fill  twenty  folio  volumes,  that  he  maintained  a  con- 
stant and  extensive  correspondence  on  the  subject 
of  the  Reformation,  and  the  state  of  the  Protestant 
churches  ;  and,  that  he  was  continually  employed 
ui  preaching — in  giving  theological  lectures — and 
in  assisting  at  all  the  deliberations  of  the  Consis- 
tory ;  it  might  be  supposed,  as  has  been  observed, 
that  his  "  soul  of  fire"  must  have  been  supported  by 
"  a  frame  of  adamant ;"  he  was,  however,  the  sub- 
ject of  numerous  and  painful  maladies,  which  ren- 
dered his  exertions  almost  incredible.  No  man 
ever  better  understood  or  exemplified  the  *'  divine 
philosophy"  of  redeeming  time.  He  lived  at  a 
great  rate ;  and  must  be  estimated  not  by  his  years, 
which  were  comparatively  i^ew,  but  by  his  labours, 
which  were  great  and  many.  In  his  own  person  he 
practically  refuted  the  calumny  which  charged  his 
system  of  theology  with  inactivity.  Had  he  antici- 
pated eternal  life,  as  the  wages  of  laborious  piety, 
he  could  not  have  exemplified  a  more  blameless 
life ;  but  he  looked  for  it,  as  "  the  gift  of  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Influenced  by 
gratitude  for  the  incipient  blessings  of  salvation  re- 
ceived, burning  with  love  to  God,  kindled  by  the 
contemplation  of  his  moral  beauty,  and  acting  per- 
petually with  reference  to  the  divine  honour ;  he 
described  a  course  equally  brilliant  and  useful,  im- 
parting light  and  heat  to  the  hemisphere  in  which  he 
shone.  In  the  presence  of  this  "  greater  light,"  the 
stars  of  pagan  philosophy,  of  corrupt  tradition,  and 


298  WRITIiNGS    OF    CALVIN. 

of  false  systems  of  Christianity,  are  blotted  out  of 
the  moral  firmament ;  and  it  is  only  by  his  obscu- 
ration, that  they  can  have  "  leave  to  shine." 

The  intrepidity  of  Calvin,  equally  uniform  and 
effective,  was  by  no  means  constitutional.  We  have 
his  own  testimony  in  proof  that  he  was  "  naturally 
timid."  His  courage  was,  therefore,  that  of  prin- 
cijple,  sustained  by  a  consciousness  of  integrity, 
and  elevated  by  the  dignity  of  the  cause  in  which 
he  was  embarked.  The  fear  of  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing, when  it  is  radical  and  uniform,  renders  the 
mind  insensible  to  the  influence  of  constitutional 
fear  and  anxiety,  and  arms  it  for  all  the  contingen- 
cies of  the  mortal  conflict.  Though  Calvin  was 
not  called  to  the  act  of  martyrdom,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  he  possessed  ihe principle  ;  and  would 
have  exemplified  it  by  embracing  the  stake,  had  he 
been  conducted  thither  by  the  combined  cruelty  of 
earth  and  hell.  It  is  not,  however,  to  great  and 
splendid  single  acts,  that  principle  is  confined: 
there  is  more  of  unequivocal  greatness  of  mind  and 
moral  triumph,  in  the  daily  martyrdom  of  which 
the  apostle  speaks,  when  he  says,  "I  die  daily," 
and  when  the  martyr  is  his  own  executioner,  than 
in  any  single  act  which  can  be  opposed  to  it.  The 
courage  of  our  reformer  was  eminently  of  thi&  de- 
scription ;  it  was  not  so  much  a  triumph  over 
others  as  over  himself; — a  consecration  of  his  be- 
ing, and  of  all  his  temporal  interests,  to  a  cause 
which  was  supreme  in  his  estimate,  and  which  ad- 
mitted of  no  compromise. 


WRITINGS    OF    CALVIN.  299 

The  aptness  of  the  human  mmd  to  pass  from  one 
extreme  to  another,  is    proverbial;    and   perhaps 
was  never  more  strikingly  illustrated  than  in  the 
French  Revolution,  when  the  bulk  of  the  popula- 
tion passed  from  the  extreme  of  superstition  to  that 
of  infidelity.     At  the  period  of  the  Reformation, 
however,  though  the  renunciation  of  popery  was 
ahsoluie,   the  wholesome  influence  of  tlie  reformers 
upon  the   public  mind  secured  the  veneration  of 
primitive  Christianity,  which  gilded,  as  it  rose,  the 
summits  of  Germany,  of  France,  and  of  Great  Bri*^ 
tain.     The  instrumentality  of  Calvin,  in  arresting 
the  march  of  the  human  mind  in  its  passage  from 
superstition,   is  evident  in  the  matured   establish- 
ment of  the  reformed  religion  in  France,  of  which 
he  was  the  principal  founder.     The  system  of  ec- 
clesiastical discipline  which   he   gave  to  Geneva, 
consolidated  the  reformation  in  France,  and  rea- 
lized all  the  practical  benefits,  which  might  have 
been  anticipated  from  so  scriptural  an  exposition 
of  the  nature  and  claims  of  a  Christian  church- 
Built  upon  a  rock,  the  battering-ram  of  the  author 
of  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity"  has  not  even  disturbed 
the  cement  which  unites  the  matchless  edifice. 

Of  the  admirers  of  the  subject  of  these  Memoirs, 
the  author  would  now  take  leave,  by  remarking, 
that  the  most  solid  praise  consists  in  a  careful  imi- 
tation of  him  whom  we  admire. 


THE    END. 


D,  HOGAN, 

No.  255,  MARKET  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA, 

Has  lately  Published, 

THE 

^ctipturt  IBotttint 

OF    THE 

Appropriation  ivhich  is  hi  the  Nature  of 
Saving  Faith; 

stated  and  Illustrated  in  several  Discourses. 

By  JOHN  ANDERSON,  D.  D.  Minister  of  the  Gospel  in  the 

Associate  Cong^regations  of  Mill  Creek,  Kings  Creek, 

and  Racoon,  near  Pittsburgh. 


"  We  believe  that  through  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall 
be  saved."  Acts  xv.  1 1 . 

Third  Edition. — One  Volume  l8tno. — pp.  204. 

Price  50  Cents  singly — For  12  copies,  ^4.50 — For  24  copies 
^8.75 — and  over  that  number,  33J  cts,  per  copy 


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Memoirs  of  the  life  and  writings  of  John 
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